The Lakers were originally interested in introducing Hawks inside stars, but in the end they chose to trade with the Hornets?

According to ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, the Los Angeles Lakers tried to get inside star Onyeka Okongwu from the Atlanta Hawks before the Mark Williams deal with the Charlotte Hornets. In the end, the deal did not take shape. The Hawks chose to keep Okonggu and turned him into a regular manner, so he replaced the previous starting center Clint Capela as the team's new starting center. The Lakers had already obtained Williams from the Hornets through a trade, but because the latter failed the team's physical examination, the transaction was also forced to be cancelled after the trade deadline. In the end, the Lakers also had to face the cruel reality that the team had no one to be available in the interior during the playoffs, which directly led to the team's loss in the interior during the playoffs and was eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.

In the NBA regular season this season, Okongwu played 74 times for the Hawks, 40 of which were started, with averaging 27.9 minutes per game, averaging 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks, and 1.2 turnovers and 2.6 fouls. His shooting percentage was 56.7%, a three-point shooting percentage of 32.4%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 75.9%. In the NBA regular season this season, Williams played 44 times for the Hornets, averaging 26.6 minutes per game, averaging 15.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.2 blocks, and 1.6 turnovers and 2.4 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 60.4% and a free throw percentage of 80.4%.

From the Lakers' perspective, Okonwu is of course a very ideal goal. Okongwu has comprehensive personal abilities. He can exert his value on both offense and defense. Especially on the offense, he has comprehensive scoring ability, he also has certain passing ability and support ability, and his attendance rate is much better than Williams. Of course, the Lakers obviously have to pay a considerable price to get Okonwu, after all, the Hawks will also think that he is the future of the team. Perhaps it is because it is not easy to win Okonwu, and the Lakers also chose to settle for the second best and completed a deal with the Hornets to get Williams. As a result, Williams was unable to join, which directly led to the Lakers in crisis.

The Lakers are still in the interior position at a serious level of insufficient manpower, and the team also needs to find a reliable center this summer to improve their competitiveness. I don’t know how the Lakers will operate this summer. Will they continue to communicate with the Eagles and see if there is any chance to win Okonwu? Or they can also see if they have the chance to sign Capela, who was abandoned by the Hawks?