NBA news: Amid all the activity the Los Angeles Lakers have been involved in in NBA free agency, there’s still a lingering rumor about Anthony Davis potentially leaving the squad. The whispers are no longer as loud as they used to be, but the fact of the matter is that there has still been some buzz about the Lakers potentially pulling the plug on AD via a blockbuster trade deal.
NBA News: League Insider Remains Adamant That Anthony Davis Will Get His Extension With Lakers
Right now, Davis still has two more years remaining in his contract. However, he has a player option for 2024-25, which means that if he wanted to, he could actually walk away from the Lakers next summer as a free agent. That is unless LA is able to agree on an extension this summer.
NBA insider Dave McMenamin of ESPN has provided a timely update on AD’s contract status with the Lakers as he becomes eligible to sign an extension in August. According to the renowned NBA guru, LA has every intention of extending Davis’ deal:
“Anthony Davis in Rob [Pelinka’s] estimation is someone that has represented the Lakers really well, citing how he played through his foot injury last year as a major reason why they won a championship in 2020 and he wants to continue to have Anthony Davis as a Laker,” McMenamin said (h/t Matthew Valento of Lakers Nation). “… I am not too concerned about how this thing plays out, whether it’s the max amount of years or max amount of dollars are reached, that remains to be seen and that will be figured out between Rich Paul and Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss. But where things stand right now, I expect some sort of an agreement to be reached.
“A lot of it is one, recognizing that Anthony Davis as a trade chip, there’s no way to replicate the value of what he brings to the court combined with LeBron James when he’s healthy, you just won’t. It’s absolutely impossible.
“You also recognize that LeBron turning 39 years old and entering Year 21 has a limited window, so then to try to coalesce with a new group if you were to find this beautiful trade for Anthony Davis, that’s follied, you could be wasting what’s left of LeBron and then beyond that, listen, we know the business of this league. If there’s no extension offered, what do you do? You apply pressure the other way and say I want out. So I’m fairly confident that Anthony Davis will come into training camp with an extended deal.”
Injuries have been a major issue for Davis over the past couple of years. However, as McMenamin pointed out, he’s an absolute beast on the court when he’s healthy. This is exactly what the Lakers are hoping for in 2023-24 as they look to go on another title run as LeBron James’ championship window continues to grow smaller and smaller.
NBA Rumors: Anthony Davis Nearly Joined Bucks Before Picking Lakers
Anthony Davis changed the landscape of the NBA when he decided to join the Los Angeles Lakers to team up with LeBron back in 2019. It was a blockbuster trade that had major implications on the rest of the league. True enough, AD would go on to win the championship in his first season in LA.
Before taking his talents to Hollywood, however, Davis actually nearly joined the Milwaukee Bucks. AD himself revealed that prior to picking LA, the Bucks were part of his list of teams he considered, which also included the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the same team? Wouldn’t that have been something?
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