The Los Angeles Lakers just made another trade with eyes on the future. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Lakers have acquired Mark Williams in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, sending out Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, their 2031 first-round pick, and a 2030 first-round pick swap. They now have their post-Anthony Davis center of the future.

Williams has been great for the Hornets this season, averaging 16.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game in 22 appearances. Charlotte is taking a chance on Knecht at the wing, and they capitalized on the Lakers’ need for a center to pair with Luka Doncic.

And Williams is a great get. But LA made one crucial error.

Mark Williams injury history will bring up Anthony Davis problems again – but worse

In their rush to give Doncic a lob threat, the Lakers traded for a center who has played in 84 games since his rookie season—the 2022-23 campaign. That means he’s only appeared in 84 of the 212 possible games he could have played in. That’s 39.6%.

For reference (and a topical one, at that), Davis played in 312 of a possible 437 regular-season games he could have played in since joining the team ahead of the 2019-202 season. That’s 71.4%.

Lakers fans spent a ton of time criticizing Davis’ ability to stay on the court, and now, they have a center who has been able to stay healthy far less than he did. That’s not great.

At just 23 years old, Williams has plenty of time to turn his career around and begin a journey to consistent health. However, he’s dealt with consistent ankle issues, and everything from thumb to back ailments has interrupted his playing career on top of that.

But Williams’ injury history isn’t where the Lakers’ trade mistake starts and ends. It gets worse for LA.

The Lakers gave up their 2031 first-rounder in the deal (unprotected). That was the last little bit of true draft capital they had left to trade, meaning they just made a huge bet on Williams and his ability to stray healthy enough to help them on the court. They even gave up a pick swap, too.

Again, Williams is a phenomenal talent. He’s the exact type of player the Lakers should want to pair with Doncic, and he can play an eerily similar role to the one Dereck Lively II played on the Dallas Mavericks next to Doncic.

But he’s just never been healthy. Investing their last true piece of tradable draft capital (outside of more swaps) into a guy who can’t stay on the court is a huge risk that may come back to haunt the Lakers if Williams’ injury issues persist.