On February 6 The Lakers traded rookie Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 pick swap and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick to the Hornets in exchange for Mark Williams.  On February 9 this trade was rescinded after Mark Williams had failed his Lakers’ physical.

Following the agreement of any trade, if players are mandated to report to the team they are traded to, (i.e. if they are not immediately waived) a physical examination must be passed, conducted by the acquiring team’s medical staff.

The specifics of why Williams failed the examination have not yet been revealed. Some reporters are stating it is a foot injury. The standards set by the evaluating physicians will vary by team. A medical team could find a health concern for virtually any player in the league. What constituted  a fail for the Lakers might not have been the case for other teams. Rescinded trades are rare, and what is especially unique about this situation is that Mark Williams was not sidelined with injury at the time of the trade, he was playing.

The players and draft assets involved in the trade will return to the team that originally owned them and it will be as though the trade never happened.

On February 11 the Lakers signed Center Alex Len who they hope can join the rotation. Len was expected to sign with Indiana but joins the Lakers today where there is an urgent need for a Center to give them minutes, following the departure of Anthony Davis. The Lakers waived Christian Wood to make room for this signing as they had 15 players under contract (the maximum).

The Lakers are now at $199,818,438 in total cap allocations following their recent transactions, including the acquisition of Luka Dončić. This makes them the 4th most expensive team in the league. They are $1,637,676 below the second apron but are hard-capped at the second apron until June 30th (end of the season) because they aggregated contracts in the Luka Dončić trade.

The Hornets are attempting to challenge the findings from the physical. Shams Charania reports “The Charlotte Hornets have been in contact with the NBA as they explore options to dispute the Los Angeles Lakers' failed physical assessment of Mark Williams, sources tell ESPN”

The NBA might impose fines or sanctions on the Lakers if the dispute reveals misconduct or negligence in the physical examination process. The Lakers might need to compensate the Hornets with additional assets if the trade is reinstated under different terms or if there's a settlement involved. The possibility of this trade getting reinstated, however, is very low. A rescinded trade is legally dead under the CBA, meaning reinstatement is generally not an option and has not ever happened before. ​