Why The Lakers Needed Mark Williams During Their Series With Minnesota

Despite having the two best players in the series, LeBron James, Luka Dončić and the Los Angeles Lakers were no match for Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

The Wolves’ 103-96 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday was the culmination of a trend that crushed the Lakers all series. Minnesota center Rudy Gobert went off for a playoff-career-high 27 points and 24 rebounds along with two blocks as he controlled the paint on both ends of the floor. He had more offensive rebounds (nine) than the Lakers did as a team (eight).

That was an out-of-nowhere performance for Gobert, who combined for only 14 points and 25 rebounds in Games 1-4 combined. Although the 7-footer was a relative non-factor until Wednesday, the Wolves’ size proved problematic for the Lakers throughout the series.

While the Lakers improved their post-LeBron outlook by acquiring Dončić in February, they kneecapped their title chances with their other big trade-deadline splash. They originally traded Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 first-round pick swap and their unprotected 2031 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for third-year center Mark Williams, but they wound up rescinding the deal after Williams failed his physical.

That left them stuck in no-man’s land as they desperately pursued ways to fortify their frontcourt after trading star big man Anthony Davis for Dončić.

Small-Ball Backfires

In the wake of the Davis/Dončić swap, Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood were the Lakers’ only remaining centers on standard contracts. They also had Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III on two-way deals, but neither would be eligible to appear in the playoffs unless the Lakers converted them to standard contracts by the end of the regular season.

The Lakers wound up waiving Wood and signing Alex Len off the buyout market, but they otherwise stood pat in terms of frontcourt changes. They didn’t convert either Koloko or Jemison to standard contracts because they “liked the chemistry of the group” during the regular season, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. That wound up backfiring on them against Minnesota.

Hayes started every game against the Wolves, but he played only 31 total minutes across the five-game series. Len played four minutes across two games. Maxi Kleber made his Lakers debut in Game 5 after being sidelined for months due to right foot surgery, but he played only five minutes and finished with two points and zero rebounds.

The Lakers largely relied on small-ball looks featuring 6’8″ forward Rui Hachimura as their nominal center against Minnesota. They still had plenty of size on the floor between James (6’9″), Dončić (6’6″), Dorian Finney-Smith (6’7″) and Austin Reaves (6’5″), but the Wolves had a clear height advantage over them between Gobert (7’1″) and their 6’9″ trio of Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Naz Reid.

Reid eviscerated the Lakers in the Wolves’ blowout Game 1 victory with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting (including 6-of-9 from deep) off the bench. McDaniels was also a pivotal part of their first three victories with 25 points and nine rebounds in Game 1, 30 points and five rebounds in Game 3 and 16 points and 11 rebounds in Game 4. Meanwhile, Randle chipped in a well-rounded 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists while shooting 48.1% overall and 39.3% from three-point range across the series.

The Wolves wound up beating the Lakers 65-48 on the offensive glass throughout the series and finished with 41 more field-goal attempts. Koloko and/or Jemison might not have made a huge difference in that regard, but the Wolves correctly identified the Lakers’ Achilles’ heel and prodded at it all series.

After Game 5, Jovan Buha of The Athletic asked James how physically taxing it was for the Lakers to lean so heavily on small-ball lineups.

“No comment. I’ll never say that, because my guy AD said what he needed, and he was gone the following week,” James replied with a laugh. I got no comment, I put that uniform on every night, I gave everything that I had, and that’s all that matters.”

In late January, Davis told ESPN’s Shams Charania that the Lakers were “right there” in terms of being championship contenders, but he wanted to see them add another big man. “I feel like I’ve always been at my best when I’ve been the 4, having a big out there,” he said.”

As LeBron noted, the Lakers traded Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Dončić the following week, leaving them even smaller in the frontcourt. It’s now up to newly extended general manager Rob Pelinka to fill that void this offseason.

Looking Ahead

When the Lakers rescinded the Williams deal, they left themselves vulnerable to this exact outcome. Even if they didn’t run into the supersized Wolves, the Denver Nuggets (Nikola Jokić), Los Angeles Clippers (Ivica Zubac), Houston Rockets (Alperen Şengün) and Oklahoma City Thunder (Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein) all had big men who could have posed major matchup issues for them.

The Lakers never publicly addressed why they went back on the trade, although ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Williams’ physical showed “multiple issues.” Williams, who took great pleasure in watching the Lakers’ demise on Wednesday, didn’t buy that explanation.

“I don’t know if, for them, it was what they gave up, or what went into that,” Williams told reporters in mid-February. “But I don’t think it was solely because of my physical. I’ve been playing all year, and I think my minutes and my production on the court speaks for itself.”

Williams did play in 21 of a possible 30 games for the Hornets after the All-Star break, averaging 14.9 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in only 28.3 minutes per game. The jury remains out on the long-term wisdom of rescinding that deal—we’ll have to see how he holds up physically over the next few years—but the Lakers likely would still be playing if they had him in the fold against Minnesota.

Granted, the Lakers didn’t just make the Dončić trade to improve their title chances this season. If anything, a seismic midseason acquisition like him—a ball-dominant guard who would force them to reinvent their schemes on the fly—would make it more difficult to win this year’s championship. That trade was largely about improving their post-LeBron outlook.

Once the Lakers rescinded the Williams trade and decided to go into the postseason with Hayes and Len as their only two true centers, they effectively consigned themselves to falling short this year. They now have a full offseason to bolster their frontcourt whether via trade, free agency or the draft.

How they address that void could go a long way to determine whether they’re realistic championship contenders next season.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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