Lakers, Hornets Trade Rescinded | Waiver Wire Ramifications for Dalton Knecht and Teams, and Players to Target Instead

In a very weird and unexpected twist, the NBA trade deadline had one final curveball for everybody.

A couple days after the deal went through, the trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets was rescinded. It's being reported that Charlotte's Mark Williams failed his physical with Los Angeles. That means Dalton Knecht and Cam Reddish, along with picks, are back with the Lakers.

Let's discuss what the rescinded trade means for the players and teams involved. We'll also look at some waiver wire options from the FantasySP Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups page in case Knecht was a big-time addition for you.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including waiver pickups, projections, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy basketball trade analyzer and the Trade Value Chart to break down trade scenarios.

Lakers Outlook

This has a much bigger impact on the Lakers, both in the real world, and in the fantasy basketball world.

In the real world, the Lakers were hoping Williams would help replace Anthony Davis, who was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic in a massive trade several days ago.

Now the Lakers' top big man is Jaxson Hayes, so expect his own percentage in fantasy leagues to skyrocket. There's a very good chance the Lakers are active in the buyout market for another center, because Dorian Finney-Smith is the team's backup, and there's not much true center help on the roster.

I thought the Lakers were a sneaky good contender in the Western Conference, and they still might be with Doncic and LeBron James leading the charge, but not having many true centers on the roster is eventually going to catch up to them.

This is a tough break for the Knecht and Reddish. It can't be easy coming back to a team that dealt you away in order to compete now. For Knecht especially, his chances of getting big playing time to end the season took a massive hit when the trade was rescinded.

Knecht was one of the top waiver wire additions over the past couple days, and now he goes back to a team that doesn't want him and might play him less than he was before the deadline deal was originally announced. He is averaging about 20 minutes a game with LA, and at best, I think that's his average for the remainder of the season.

He goes back to being a deep-league fantasy option only probably. It would take an injury to a guy like Doncic or Austin Reaves to really give Knecht more consistent playing time moving forward. It will be really interesting to see how the rookie reacts to the trade. Will he let it fuel him, and his averages in several stats increase, or will it eat on his mind and his efficiency drops?

Reddish isn't likely to crack the rotation moving forward, and he could end up being bought out in order for the team to go after a center, or two.

Having Knecht back on the team probably means Shake Milton and Gabe Vincent, among others, don't get nearly as many minutes moving forward. There's also a chance the Lakers add a guard in the buyout market, and then that move might also affect Knecht.

Hornets Outlook

The rescinded trade also affects the Hornets a bit, but with the team at 13-36 this season, it's not nearly as drastic a blow.

Williams should go back to being the top center on the team. Moussa Diabate's fantasy outlook takes a big hit, so you might also need to scour the waiver wire for a new big man if he was a pickup of yours earlier in the week. 

The Hornets also traded for Jusuf Nurkic at the deadline, and now he seems like a buyout candidate with Williams returning to the team and Diabate needing minutes to see if he can play a role in the team's future.

Not adding Knecht or Reddish is a big deal to several Charlotte guards, but especially Nick Smith Jr. The second-year player has been in a groove over the past couple weeks, and now shouldn't lose out on any minutes. Expect his fantasy own percentage to rise steadily again.

Guards like KJ Simpson, Elfrid Payton and Seth Curry, among others, should get some more run as the season rolls along. I don't expect any of them to be big-time fantasy assets, unless LaMelo Ball were to go down with an injury, but in deeper leagues, a couple of them might become usable assets.

Josh Green and Josh Okogie are a couple other guards/forwards who should have a clearer path to minutes now that Knecht and Reddish aren't joining the mix. 

Waiver Wire Options

Several players I mentioned already are part of the FantasySP Waiver Wire Pickups page.

Diabate is the most-added player at the time of publication, up 5.3% and sitting at 51.47% overall. Until we see how things shake out with the Charlotte big men, he's worth rostering in deeper leagues and maybe streaming in standard leagues. I ultimately think Diabate will go back to just being a deep-league option though.

Smith is up 3.46% and is rostered in 31.86% of leagues overall. He should be the biggest waiver wire pickup because of this rescinded trade. I think he's undervalued as is and is a good deep-league fantasy option, at least for the time being, but probably for the remainder of the season.

Hayes is the biggest Lakers' waiver add, up 3.77% and at 25% overall. Until another big man is added to the roster, Hayes is going to soak up a lot of the center minutes. You should stream him in deeper leagues.

Rui Hachimura is another Laker on the waiver list. He's up 1.9% and owned in 71.04% of leagues overall. He isn't going to play the center position, but if the Lakers go with some small ball lineups, Hachimura could pick up a couple extra minutes a game. He's been playing pretty well of late too, so he probably should be rostered in more leagues anyways.

If you are scrambling for another waiver addition after picking up Diabate or Knecht, here's who else appears in the top-25 pickups on Sunday.

Matas Buzelis has played very well of late as his role expands, and he's now owned in over 50% of leagues.

Ochai Agbaji, Gradey Dick, Jonathan Mogbo and Jamal Shead are four Raptors on the rise after the deadline deals the team made. Dick is the only one rostered in over 50% of leagues, with Agbaji just over 25% and Mogbo and Shead both below 10%.

Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. are waiver pickups from the Pistons. Detroit didn't do a ton at the deadline, so these pickups are more about the players performing well of late than getting better roles after a roster shakeup. 

Atlanta's Mouhamed Gueye is up 4.46% and rostered in 6.19% of leagues now. He looks like he might take on a larger role after the team's deadline deals.

Max Christie is another former Laker - he was a part of the Doncic, Davis trade. He's performed very well in his first three games with the Mavs and really deserves to be owned in way more than 43% of leagues.

Gary Trent Jr. and Bobby Portis are two waiver wire possibilities from the Bucks. Both have played bigger roles of late, but you should know Giannis Antetokounmpo has been out, so things could fizzle up for them when he's back.

New York's Precious Achiuwa is up to 33% owned. New York didn't do much to shake up its roster at the trade deadline, and with improved production of late, it's easy to see why Achiuwa is trending up. It's worth noting that his role could also fizzle up when OG Anunoby returns from his injury.

Justin Edwards and Quentin Grimes are two Philadelphia players moving up as fantasy assets. They've played well of late on an always-evolving 76ers' roster.

Houston's Dillon Brooks, Cam Whitmore and Tari Eason are all among the top-25 pickups. Houston hasn't made any big roster moves yet, so this is about recent play and production.

Kyshawn George is still on the waiver wire page after being the top pickup early on Saturday. He looks to have a larger role for the time being, but several Wizards were out the last game, so things could change in a hurry for George.

Isaiah Collier continues to see his own percentage rise, reaching 64% now. He's played very well over the past few weeks, so it's no surprise to see him on the rise.

The final player on the waiver pickup page is Aaron Wiggins. He's coming off a big game, and has played well since the start of February. He's a good streaming option in all formats right now.