LeBron James was surprised the Lakers could trade for Mark Williams

The Lakers surprised everyone by pulling off a trade for Mark Williams, including even LeBron James.

On Monday, Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka told the media assembled at Luka Dončić’s introductory press conference that it was unlikely the team would make a splash in trading for a center before the deadline. Instead, he insisted, that big move would come in the offseason.

Just over 48 hours later, the Lakers did a cannonball into the deep end.

Not only did the team acquire a center that was a great fit, they landed one that no one knew was available. Mark Williams was a promising young big on a Hornets team going nowhere fast. But a phone call from Charlotte started the dialogue that ended with the Lakers finding an unexpected solution.

Even if also finishing as the second biggest shock deal of the week, it was a deal that surprised everyone, including LeBron James.

“Obviously, young, athletic, big,” LeBron said after Thursday’s win over the Clippers. “He’s going to give us another lob threat along with Jaxson, Looking forward to getting him here. I was surprised that we were able to get him, to be completely honest. Just seeing his length and seeing how young he is – he’s 23 years old – I’m looking forward to getting him here and get him acclimated to our system and we’re looking forward to what he brings to the table.”

While it was a surprising deal, it isn’t a player the Lakers are unfamiliar with. In fact, in a bit of good fortune, head coach JJ Redick has a past with Williams.

“I met Mark when he was playing at Duke,” Redick said. “As he was coming out for the draft process, we had a few conversations just about NBA, agents, whatnot, I’ve gotten really good feedback through the years on his character and his intelligence level and I’ve watched him develop and just a big fan of his.

“Did a little bit of, well did a lot of legwork in preparation for an interview that never happened with the Hornets last year, so I was very familiar with him and just feel like he’s a really good fit for now and he’s a really good fit for the future.”

That this move came following a meeting in which Luka stated his desire to play with an athletic big man is also not a coincidence. Regardless of Luka’s requests, the Lakers view Williams as a potential key young piece of their future that they now get to mold.

“I think Luka can play a number of ways,” Redick said. “It would be very advantageous for us to have multiple centers that can provide a vertical threat. We feel that Mark is a young, starting center in the NBA and he provides that vertical threat. I think we as a staff have a job to do in developing him as a screener, decision maker in the pocket and on the defensive end, but we’re confident with his character, work ethic, IQ that he’s gonna be a really good player for us.”

It’s a risk for the Lakers given his injury history, but it’s a calculated one that could pay off big moving forward. No one expected any of the moves the Lakers made over the last week, but it’s set them up for an exciting future.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.