Hornets' Mark Williams: Links back up with team
Williams returned to Charlotte over the All-Star break and is expected to resume playing with the Hornets in the aftermath of his rescinded trade to the Lakers, James Plowright of CLTure.org reports.
The Hornets agreed to trade Williams to the Lakers on Feb. 6, only for the Lakers to rescind the deal two days later when the club detected multiple concerns with the third-year center's medical record that resulted in him failing his physical. Though Shams Charania of ESPN reported Feb. 10 that the Hornets planned to get in contact with the league to dispute the Lakers' findings, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said over the weekend that Charlotte never filed a formal protest of the rescinded trade, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com. While reintegrating Williams may make for some awkwardness after the Hornets attempted to trade him away, the 22-year-old should step back in as Charlotte's starting center coming out of the All-Star break. As Plowright notes, the Lakers failed his physical because of long-term concerns about his health, not due to any current injury. If Williams is in fact back in action with the Hornets to begin the second half, he'll be playing against the team he was nearly traded to in the Lakers, as the two squads are set to play Wednesday in Los Angeles.
