Days after the Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly rescinded the Mark Williams trade with the Charlotte Hornets, it appears that the Hornets are trying to un-rescind the deal. That may be a long shot considering the trade deadline passed on February 6th, but technically, it's not impossible.
The reason is that it wouldn't be a new trade between the Lakers and Hornets involving Williams, but the same trade reversed. The point of contention was that the Lakers failed Williams after his physical, allowing them to void the trade.
However, the Hornets contend that they shared all of the necessary information with the Lakers and that they failed him for reasons other than health. One potential reason was that they were perhaps dissatisfied with the terms of the trade.
That seems far-fetched from the Lakers perspective. After all, they desperately needed Williams, and he was handpicked as a trade target by Luka Doncic. If the Lakers saw something in Williams' physical, then they clearly deemed it serious enough to cancel the deal.
NBA Rumor: Could the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Lakers Mark Williams trade go through?
According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, there is a 99.9% chance that the trade rescission doesn't get overturned by the NBA, but it could potentially lead to a new rule. That could mean that if there are any injury concerns or failed physicals that are uncovered after the trade deadline passes, teams could add or remove draft picks.
For instance, the Lakers could still fail Williams, and they and the Hornets could work out a modified deal after the deadline in which Charlotte offers concessions. That might include the Lakers keeping their pick swap or the Hornets adding a second-round pick to the deal.
That might be a useful rule change even though there are relatively few rescinded trades. One might argue that by making a rule change, it would increase the number of rescinded trades. However, it seems like a poor rule to begin with that teams can't adjust the deal after the fact if information that isn't initially disclosed becomes known.
To the Hornets point, by having the Williams deal fall through, it likely hurts his trade value going forward with him already having a reputation for being injury prone. If teams think that he is even more injury-prone than before, then they are unlikely to get positive return value for him in another deal.
Then there is also the fact that he will likely play for the Hornets again after the All-Star break, adding an awkward layer to an already uncomfortable situation for the players involved. They will also have to work out a new contract with him during the summer or risk letting him leave for nothing in restricted free agency.
In that instance, his value to other teams may have dropped, and the Hornets could be able to retain him for a reasonable price. However, they are clearly still upset that they couldn't trade him for the haul that they were offered by the Lakers. Nevertheless, it appears that there's nothing that they can do about it now other than file a complaint.