Mark Williams shades Los Angeles Lakers after NBA Playoff elimination, vetoed trade from Charlotte Hornets

Mark Williams could’ve been exactly what the Los Angeles Lakers needed this postseason. With his trade to LA being vetoed, he took a subtle, apparent shot at the franchise after their elimination on Wednesday.

The Minnesota Timberwolves won 103-96 in Game 5 last night in LA to end the Lakers’ season in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs. Following that loss, Williams took to Twitter to post a soft smile in likely reference to the team he almost went to at the trade deadline.

🙂

— Mark Williams (@MarkWi1liams) May 1, 2025

Williams was the key piece in the other major deal that Los Angeles made at the deadline back at the start of February. He was heading to the Lakers while the Charlotte Hornets would have had a package of Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a first-round pick, and a pick swap. However, LA rescinded the offer two days later after Williams failed their physical exam as part of the trade.

In finishing his third season in the association with Charlotte, Williams averaged 15.3 points (60.4% FG), 10.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks in a career-best year in 44 games as their starting center. That included 14.9 points (62.7% FG), 10.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game over his final 21 outings post-trade.

The Lakers, who did that deal in hopes of pairing him as their center with LeBron James as well as their new addition at the time of Luka Dončić, would go on to be the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. However, a lack of depth, especially down low, was obvious in their series loss to the Wolves. James along with Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jarred Vanderbilt, did their best in the frontcourt with little to no production from Jaxson Hayes. Still, the Timberwolves had bigs that completely outplayed them with Julius Randle (22.6 points (48.1% FG, 39.3% 3PT), 5.2 rebounds), Jaden McDaniels (17.4 points (57.4% FG), 6.4 rebounds), Naz Reid (11.6 points (52.6% FG, 50% 3PT)), and Rudy Gobert (8.2 points (57.1% FG), 9.8 rebounds), who all led Minnesota in scoring behind only Anthony Edwards.

Depth, specifically inside, eliminated Los Angeles for the second straight season in the first round as the Lakers have made it past their first series just once in the last half-decade. Williams could have had some impact on that, if nothing else but extending the series past five games, if that deal had gone through, which he reminded the franchise of with this on social media.