LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers caught an L on Tuesday night, as the purple and gold strolled into Brooklyn and lost a thriller to the Nets. While James had his normal LeBron in New York box score — 36 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists — Brooklyn defended its home court en route to a 115-110 victory and their sixth win in a row.
Next up for Los Angeles is a home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, which features a not exactly subtle subplot. The Lakers are one of the teams that is interested in acquiring Anthony Davis if he hits the trade market this summer, and unlike most other teams that want to bring him on board, Los Angeles has a war chest of assets that could get into a bidding war for the star big man.
James was asked about Friday’s game and the whole “Davis to Los Angeles” thing prior to taking the floor against the Nets, and might have given the least surprising answer in basketball history when asked about Davis potentially becoming his teammate.
“That would be amazing,” James said to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “That would be amazing, like, duh. That would be incredible.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said over the weekend that the Lakers don’t want to part with their young core in the event the opportunity to swing a big trade over the summer arises, specifically mentioning Davis as the guy they’d be interested in pursuing. Davis is eligible for a supermax extension from the Pelicans over the summer, but if he turns it down, a mad dash to acquire him is almost certain to commence, as New Orleans would theoretically want to get something back for him instead of letting Davis walk in free agency.
If that happens, there are 29 teams that should try to figure out how to sell the farm for Davis, because he arguably is the guy in the best position to take the title of best basketball player in the world once James gives it up. It’s safe to assume that the list of players who don’t think it’d be “amazing” to acquire Davis is awfully short … assuming he turns down an extension with the Pelicans and hits the trade market, of course.
