The Hornets sure seem like they’re not giving up on the Mark Williams trade

Despite the trade having been rescinded, the Hornets aren’t dropping things when it comes to the Mark Williams trade.

The rescinded Mark Williams trade is not unprecedented in the NBA, but it’s certainly not normal. More than anything, the timing of it and the decision to cancel it coming after the trade deadline makes it a very unique situation.

But how the two franchises have handled it is vastly different. The Lakers moved on, eventually welcoming back Dalton Knecht to the rotation while signing Alex Len to fill the void left by Williams.

Charlotte, however, has not moved on. For one, they already contacted the league about potential consequences for the Lakers for rescinding this deal. And as Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported this week. they’re not stopping there.

It’s not even really clear what the Hornets are expecting from this. Knecht has returned to the court and played for the Lakers. Williams, however, has not played for Charlotte post trade.

But they can’t make the trade go through now. That’s off the table. So the Hornets just want the Lakers to be forced to either give up compensation to them or be punished in some capacity.

To do that, they’d need to prove that the Lakers lied about Williams failing a physical, which then requires the logic that the Lakers traded for Williams and, within 24-36 hours, decided they didn’t want this center that would potentially make them title contenders and would rather cancel the deal.

The best summary of this situation came from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic.

One franchise is acting like adults here, moving on with matters in a tough situation and continuing their season. The other one is the Hornets.

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