Anthony Davis pushed his way to Los Angeles last year and, after four-plus extremely awkward months in New Orleans, got his wish in a pre-draft trade with the Lakers.
The expectation, given how Davis had the Lakers atop his list of preferred destinations, is that he will re-sign with them long-term this coming summer. However, there is a chance that Davis’ tenure in L.A. is little more than a one year rental, and that possibility does hang over this entire Lakers season.
Davis and his agent Rich Paul made it well known that the Lakers and Knicks would be the only two teams he would consider re-signing with should they trade for him in an effort to scare teams like the Celtics away from making their best offer for him. Still, the Lakers have to be sure they do everything right this season to ensure that he doesn’t feel the need to fully explore his options this summer. As Sam Amick of The Athletic laid out, the Lakers are in a great position to keep Davis, as it stands now, but there is the possibility that changes should things go awry.
As one person close to him said when asked to explain how people should see the Lakers’ chances of retaining Davis here, “Just don’t fuck it up.”
That’s pretty straight forward and how most around the league read the situation. Davis wants to be with the Lakers and wants to play with LeBron, but if this year ends up being a disaster for whatever reason, he does have the opportunity to opt out and bolt in free agency.
The disaster scenario in L.A. goes something like this. The supporting cast struggles around a Davis and LeBron pairing that can’t quite get on the same page and play to the level they expect. Davis is forced to play a lot of minutes at center, when he prefers to play the four, and the Lakers flame out early in the playoffs. Seeing a roster not ready to compete right away and with a co-star entering the twilight of his career, Davis turns his attention elsewhere.
The good news so far is that Davis and LeBron seem to be in sync with each other and it’s hard to imagine their on-court match going poorly. LeBron also seems to be putting in the work to make sure Davis is a beloved figure off the court in L.A. and feels more than welcome, by doing things like gifting him the No. 23 (which wouldn’t be able to take effect until next season, should Davis stay). The supporting cast part remains to be seen, as does their postseason success, but even if the Lakers struggle relative to expectations of a championship, it’s hard to see him leaving.
The biggest reason for that is, there’s no one with money next summer that’s going to be especially desirable. The Knicks would be the frontrunner for his services given his stated desire to be in L.A. or NYC, but with a Lakers team whose floor seems to be “early round exit” is still likely better than the best case scenario in New York — which, given the way things have shaken out with this year’s free agency class, wouldn’t be able to pair Davis with a star unless he really liked playing with Julius Randle that much in New Orleans. The Hawks are probably the most intriguing team with cap space, but Davis would have to be a really big believer in Trae Young as a transcendent talent to believe his presence alone would lift Atlanta to contendership in the near future. The other teams with space are Cleveland, Memphis, and Chicago, the latter of which would bring a homecoming opportunity but he’s made it clear that’s not especially important to him.
All of this is to say, it would take just about the worst case scenario for Davis to walk away from the Lakers next summer, but L.A. does have to keep that in the back of their mind all season to ensure they’re keeping him happy so re-signing him is as drama-free as possible.
