In 2009, the Oklahoma City Thunder thought they had found their next starting center in Tyson Chandler. Then a physical changed everything. A concern involving Chandler’s left big toe led the Thunder to void the trade, sending him back to New Orleans. Two years later, Chandler helped anchor the Dallas Mavericks’ championship defense.

A failed physical does not always tell the whole story of a player’s career. But it can change the story of a franchise.

That is why Mark Williams’ latest injury has brought the Lakers’ abandoned trade back into focus. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Friday that the Phoenix Suns center underwent surgery Thursday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will miss an extended period. The news quickly revived the February 2025 deal that would have sent Williams to Los Angeles.

And some Lakers fans are now looking at that failed trade very differently.

The trade that never made it to Los Angeles

The Lakers were not casually exploring Williams. After sending Anthony Davis and Max Christie to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Dončić, Los Angeles had an immediate hole at center. The team needed a big who could protect the rim, rebound, and give Dončić a reliable target around the basket.

Williams fit that need.

The 23-year-old center had the size and athleticism to serve as a vertical threat in the pick-and-roll. He could set screens, dive toward the rim, finish lobs, and help on the defensive glass. For a Lakers team trying to build around Dončić, those were valuable skills.

The proposed deal, agreed to on February 6, 2025, would have sent Williams to Los Angeles in exchange for Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2030 first-round pick swap, and an unprotected 2031 first-round pick.

That last asset mattered. The Lakers would not simply have been giving up a young player for a new center. They would have been parting with a significant piece of their future.

But the deal came with a condition that changed everything: Williams had to pass his physical.

On February 8, the Lakers voided the trade after Williams failed the exam. The players and draft assets returned to their original teams, and a transaction that had appeared close to completion disappeared.

The decision was controversial at the time. Williams was still a young player with a clear role in the NBA, and the Lakers had just lost their starting center in the Dončić trade. Walking away also left Los Angeles with an immediate roster problem.

Yet the medical concerns were serious enough for the Lakers to reject the deal rather than accept the risk.

That is the part of the story fans are now revisiting.

What the Lakers’ physical actually found

The most important detail is also the one that needs the most care.

Reporting at the time indicated that Williams’ physical revealed multiple issues. Shams Charania also reported that the failed physical was not caused by the lower-back problem that had sidelined Williams for much of the 2023–24 season.

The precise findings were not fully disclosed publicly.

That distinction matters because Williams’ current injury is a left shoulder labrum tear sustained during an offseason workout in Phoenix. There is no reliable reporting that connects that injury to the concerns identified during his Lakers physical.

In other words, the Lakers did not necessarily “see” this particular injury coming.

But they did have to decide whether Williams’ overall medical history justified the cost of the trade.

Before the proposed move, Williams had already dealt with several physical setbacks. His rookie season included left ankle sprains and right thumb surgery. His second season was interrupted by a lower-back issue, and his availability remained a concern entering the 2024–25 season.

A failed physical does not mean a player cannot play. It means the acquiring team has identified risks that it may not be comfortable accepting at the price being paid.

For the Lakers, the choice was straightforward: take on those concerns while surrendering Knecht and major future draft capital, or walk away.

They chose to walk away.

And that decision is now being viewed through a very different lens.

Lakers fans think the decision looks better now

Following Charania’s injury report, one Lakers fan summed up the reaction in a few words:

“Lakers dodged a bullet lol”

Another fan connected the situation to the franchise’s history with injury concerns, writing:

“Lakers avoided another Anthony Davis prototype pheww.”

A third added:

“Glad my Lakers ain’t stuck with this dude😂😂.”

The reactions are blunt, but they reflect the central argument surrounding the trade. Had the deal gone through, the Lakers would have committed valuable assets to a center whose availability had already raised questions.

Now, Williams is facing a recovery that could keep him out until at least mid-February 2027, according to local reporting from John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports. The Suns have not announced a firm return date, saying only that a timetable will be established later.

That does not prove the Lakers were right about every concern. It does, however, explain why the failed physical feels less frustrating to some supporters than it did in February 2025.

One fan put it this way:

“Injury prone as hell but was mad at the lakers smh.”

The comment captures the hindsight angle, but it is worth separating the emotion from the actual basketball question. Williams was not a worthless player. The Lakers were pursuing him because they believed he could solve a real problem.

The question was whether his talent justified the risk.

Williams was still a worthwhile target

It would be easy to turn this into a story about the Lakers escaping a bad player. That would miss the point.

Williams’ appeal was clear. During the 2025–26 season, he appeared in a career-high 60 regular-season games for Phoenix, averaging 11.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in 23.6 minutes per game. He also provided the kind of interior presence that can be difficult to find in the modern NBA.

His value came from more than his scoring. Williams could finish around the rim, create a vertical threat for ball handlers, and contribute on the glass. Those qualities made him a logical fit next to Dončić, whose passing can punish defenses that lose track of a rolling big.

That is why the original Lakers pursuit should not be treated as irrational.

Los Angeles had a clear need. Williams had a skill set that addressed it. The proposed trade made basketball sense on paper.

But a trade is not judged only by fit. It is also judged by what a team gives up, what it commits financially, and how much uncertainty it is willing to accept.

The Lakers’ medical staff apparently decided that the risk was too high for the package involved.

And that is where the current injury becomes relevant—not as proof that they predicted a shoulder tear, but as another reminder of how much availability matters when a team is investing in a center.

The Suns now have their own problem

For Phoenix, this is not a Lakers victory lap. It is a roster issue.

The Suns acquired Williams from Charlotte on draft night in June 2025, sending Vasilije Micić, the No. 29 pick in the 2025 draft, and a 2029 first-round pick in return. After his first season with the team, Phoenix committed to him again, signing him to a three-year, $38 million contract in restricted free agency during the summer of 2026.

That investment was based on what Williams could bring to the floor.

Now, Phoenix must plan around his absence.

Williams was expected to lead a center group that also includes Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach. With Williams sidelined, the Suns may need to rely more heavily on their younger bigs, particularly Maluach, who was selected No. 10 overall in the 2025 draft.

That creates questions about the team’s interior defense, rebounding, and pick-and-roll offense. Williams’ ability to finish above the rim and occupy defenders near the basket is not easily replaced by simply giving another player his minutes.

The financial side also matters. Phoenix has committed $38 million to a player who is now expected to miss an extended period. That does not make the contract a mistake by itself, but it does raise the stakes of his recovery.

The Suns had hoped Williams would give them stability at center. Instead, they now have to find a way to cover for his absence.

And that is why the Lakers comparison has become so easy for fans to make.

There is a temptation to look at the latest injury and say the Lakers knew exactly what they were doing.

That would be too simple.

The September 2026 shoulder injury was an acute workout-related tear. The Lakers’ February 2025 physical raised concerns that were not publicly identified as a shoulder labrum issue. There is no evidence that Los Angeles’ doctors predicted this specific injury.

What the Lakers did was make a risk decision.

They had a young center they wanted. They had a roster that needed help. They had a trade package that included a promising player and a valuable unprotected first-round pick. And after the physical, they decided the deal was not worth completing.

That decision may have cost them a potential starting center. It also preserved Dalton Knecht, the 2031 first-round pick, and the flexibility to make future moves.

One fan offered a more skeptical take on the entire situation:

“The Lakers will always be blamed by some for trading for an injury prone player and then failing him on the physical to get out of the trade.”

That criticism is part of the story too. The Lakers’ decision was not universally celebrated, and the latest injury does not erase the fact that Williams could still have helped them.

But another reaction captured the strange way the story has now turned:

“The whole timeline turned this into a Lakers-dodged-a-bullet victory lap. Who’s checking on the Suns fan who thought they actually fixed the center spot this year.”

That is the irony of the situation. A trade that once looked like a missed opportunity for Los Angeles is now being discussed as a possible escape from a difficult investment.

The Lakers did not necessarily dodge this exact injury. They may, however, have avoided taking on a player whose long-term availability was already uncertain.

And for a franchise that had just reshaped its future around Luka Dončić, preserving its assets may have mattered more than forcing a deal through.

The physical did not predict the future. It gave the Lakers a choice—and they chose not to take the risk.