It wasn't quite the level of surprise of the Luka Doncic trade (what is/was/will be?), but the Lakers trade Wednesday night for Hornets center Mark Williams took many in the basketball world (including the hosts of this show) by surprise. Rob Pelinka, clearly looking to leverage both the present and future of this new era of franchise history, exchanged rookie sharpshooter/former first-round pick Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap for the young big, who's been both promising and disappointing in his young career, depending on the context.

On the plus side, Williams has excellent size, leaping ability, hands, rebounding numbers and offensive prowess around the basket. On the negative, he's been injured a lot, is (generously) a work in progress defensively and there are questions about his physicality. And while the Lakers didn't give up a Rudy Gobert-level haul for WIlliams, the price wasn't insignificant, either. This is definitely highish risk/high-reward territory here.

To break it all down, we talk with Doug Branson, host of Locked on Hornets, who's covered Williams since entering the league.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

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