Getty Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t had the best two seasons these past couple of years. Following their trade for Russell Westbrook, things went downhill quickly. In their first year with Westbrook on the roster, they missed the playoffs, and ahead of their deadline deal that shipped Westbrook to the Utah Jazz, they were one of the worst teams in the Western Conference.
LA still has a chance to turn their season around, but things aren’t looking great. And according to Chris Broussard of Fox Sports 1, LeBron James is sending subtle messages to Anthony Davis. And if Davis doesn’t perform well down the stretch, the Lakers could consider a deal that would send him to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Kyrie Irving.
“LeBron James is sending a message to one Anthony Davis…,” Broussard said via First Things First. “Dallas’ objective this summer is Kyrie for AD sign-and-trade. If AD doesn’t ball in these last 23 games, the Lakers might look at something like that.”
Needless to say, the Lakers have been a mess for a while now. Their trade deadline dealings will certainly help them make a push this year, but what that means for the future of their franchise? It’s impossible to say how good they will be a year from now.
Trading Davis would see the Lakers make a massive change to the core of their team. James and Davis won a title together just a few years back, but if they truly feel like they need to shake things up, it could be their best pathway toward a meaningful change.
LeBron James ‘Not Happy’ With Anthony Davis
According to Collin Cowherd of ESPN, James isn’t too happy with Davis right now, and that could lead to a very interesting offseason for the Lakers.
“According to sources – the NBA has a lot of leaks because players have a lot of power, and there’s a handful of reporters they trust, and when they want stuff out, especially if you’re LeBron or KD [Kevin Durant], or the big dogs, they get stuff out…,” Cowherd stated on The Herd. “LeBron wanted to go down about 34 minutes a night. Once again, in Year 20, he’s playing 40 minutes tonight in big games. So, I think this just signals [that] LeBron’s not happy with AD. He’s doing the end-around a little bit. He’s not happy with Darvin Ham not holding him accountable. They’re playing LeBron too many minutes, but if you watched the Lakers pre-trade, they had to play him. It’s the only way they can compete against good teams, is LeBron plays 40 minutes, because you don’t know what you’re getting with AD. So messaging is real, it’s obvious, and I’m not opposed to it.”
LeBron James Puts Lakers on Notice
Meanwhile, James recently put the Lakers on notice ahead of their important playoff push down the stretch of the season.
“I want to make a push to make the playoffs,” James said via the NBA. “I don’t want to see myself not being part of the postseason for two years straight. It’s just not part of my DNA. We’re sitting up here talking about the [scoring] record and things of that nature, and that’s all cool, but I’m more passionate about trying to make the postseason and give ourselves a chance to compete for another Larry O’Brien Trophy. That’s just who I am. That’s what I’m cut from.”
