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The Los Angeles Lakers climbed back to the fourth seed in the tight playoff race in the stacked Western Conference after beating the Memphis Grizzlies 134-127 on Saturday, March 29, on the road.

While the win enhanced their chances to get homecourt advantage in the first round, cracks in their defense — potentially a huge problem come playoffs — emerged.

The Grizzlies battered the Lakers’ thin frontline with 64 points inside the paint while the Lakers could only muster 38, a massive 26-point difference.

The Ringer’s Chris Vernon, co-host of “The Mismatch Podcast” pointed out that the Lakers made a trade mistake that might come back to haunt them in the playoffs.

“I think they’re gonna regret calling off the Mark Williams thing,” Vernon said on “The Bill Simmons Podcast” which dropped on Monday, March 31. “Not that he’s like frigging Bill Russell, but my God, they have nothing at the rim. Nothing.

“I think Memphis had damn near 70 points in the paint [Saturday] night. I mean there’s just [nothing] once you drive past them. [Austin] Reaves, you can drive past and LeBron [James] is not the defensive stalwart that he once was.”

“Maybe that’ll change in the playoffs … There’s nobody really there to dissuade you. They’ll play Jaxson Hayes, they’ll play [Jarred Vanderbilt], they’ll play whoever … Somebody that could get to the basket a lot is gonna give them problems.”

Memphis twin towers Zach Edey and Jaren Jackson Jr. combined for 40 points while Ja Morant, who relentlessly attacked the rim added 22.

Hayes only saw 17 minutes of action against the Grizzlies as he looked overmatched. He finished with only two points and five rebounds. After him, the Lakers have a bunch of forwards whom the Lakers are playing as small-ball centers.

Mark Williams Post-Lakers Rescinded Trade

The Lakers originally traded for Williams to become Luka Dončić‘s vertical lob threat partner.

They gave up a hefty package consisting of No. 17 pick Dalton Knecht, Cam Reddish, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap. But they had a change of heart following Williams’ physical and rescinded the trade.

“Williams’ physical with the Lakers showed multiple issues,” ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Feb. 8. Charania added the issues were not related to the back injury that limited Williams to 19 games last season.

Since the nixed deal, Williams has appeared in 16 games in his return to Charlotte. The 7-foot, 243-pound big man averaged 14.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 blocks.

Williams, 23, was adamant the Lakers did him wrong.

“I didn’t think I had failed my physical,” Williams told Charlotte Observer on Feb. 20. “That didn’t even cross my mind. The night I got traded I played hella minutes. I didn’t think in any world that was possible. Since I’ve been back since the start of the year, I’ve played games with a lot of minutes. I feel like every injury I’ve had has been well-documented and I’ve recovered and been 100% since.”

Lakers to Fix Center Issue in Offseason

The Lakers will have plenty of center options this summer.

Indiana Pacers‘  and Atlanta Hawks‘ Clint Capela are the top candidates who are linked to the Lakers.

But there are also other options such as unrestricted free agents Brook Lopez, Al Horford and Kevon Looney. But none of them are as youthful and as athletic as Williams.

Only time will tell if the Lakers made the right decision to call off the Williams trade.

Alder Almo is a basketball journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 15 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo