Getty Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers should look to trade Anthony Davis, as his recent performances have ensured his value around the league is at the highest it’s been for years, according to Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd.
In fact, Cowherd believes that making a deal with the Boston Celtics, with Robert Williams being the center of any potential return package, could help re-establish the Lakers as a championship contender or put them on the path toward that goal.
“This is precisely the time that you trade him.”
@ColinCowherd explains why right now is the perfect storm for the Lakers to move Anthony Davis
“Are the Lakers close to a championship team? No. They need like three more B+ guys, they gotta get more dudes. And ask yourself a second question, will Anthony Davis remain healthy the rest of the year…you know the answer to that…This is the time. Buy low, sell high…There are a lot of teams out East. And, they’re looking at their roster thinking how do we stop Giannis?… Just sayin’, the Celtics get Anthony Davis, the Lakers get Robert Williams, maybe a player…I’m just throwing it out there,’ Cowherd said.
Unfortunately, Cowherd’s trade idea doesn’t make much sense in terms of salary matching, or even why Boston would consider making such a trade in the first place. First of all, Williams earns $12 million per year, while Davis takes home $37.9 million. And second of all, unless Rob Pelinka is willing to take on the final few months of Al Horford’s deal, Boston would have to cobble together a package of rotation players, and potentially Marcus Smart. Surely the Lakers could find a better deal?
Of course, Brad Stevens and Pelinka could look to bring other teams into a potential deal, but again, why would Boston want to tinker with a roster that’s clearly ready to compete for a championship as currently constructed? So, it would appear Cowherd’s trade proposal is unlikely to become a reality.
LeBron Urged to Let Davis Takeover The Lakers
On a November 22 episode of Heavy on Sports’ Postin’ Up With Keith Smith & Adam Taylor podcast, the notion of LeBron James taking a step back in his role to allow Davis’ to become the Lakers’ primary offensive weapon was discussed, with Smith noting that LeBron could potentially increase his impact if he would agree to a role change.
“I think the Lakers if they wanna be the team they wanna be, not just this year, but over the next couple of years, LeBron has to start to ‘alright, this is AD’s team now,’ and start to take that step back. And then, he can still be LeBron when you need him to be. But, the important part will be, if you only need him to be LeBron once outta every four or five games, that’s better than him trying to be old-school LeBron, two, three, four nights out of four. That’s where I think, you’ve gotta really let him start to use AD,” Smith said.
LeBron Labels Davis as ‘Best Player in The NBA’
When speaking to the media in a post-game press conference on November 25, LeBron took some time to praise Davis’ recent performance levels, sharing his opinion that the Lakers superstar big man has been the best player in the NBA throughout November.
LeBron says he felt “pretty good” after scoring 21 points in his return to the court after missing the previous five games.
“The guys played some good basketball when I was out. I thought AD was the best player in the league over the last four, or five games. Just his numbers and productivity, on both sides of the floor, it’s not just offensively but defensively he’s been super engaged. And tonight, once again, he was amazing,” LeBron said.
If Davis can remain healthy, and continue to produce at his current level, it would make no sense for the Lakers to trade him this season, especially in a trade that would cement their fiercest rivals’ place as championship favorites. Davis was always seen as the long-term successor to LeBron in Los Angeles’ and right now, he’s proving that he has all the talent necessary to lead the purple and gold for the foreseeable future, health permitting, of course.