Getty Los Angeles Lakers stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James react during a game against the LA Clippers.
The makeup of the Brooklyn Nets roster looks a lot different than most expected before the start of the NBA season. Kyrie Irving is a part-time player, Joe Harris has not played since November 12th, and Kevin Durant has been out since January 15th. In addition, 10-time All-Star James Harden is no longer on the Nets’ roster. Harden was sent to the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline. In exchange, the Nets received 3-time All-Star Ben Simmons, along with Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
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Proposed Blockbuster Trade Lands Nets Anthony Davis
The one benefit of trading a player of Harden’s caliber is that the Nets have gotten significantly younger with the acquisition of the 25-year-old Simmons and the 28-year-old Drummond. Couple that in with players such as Cam Thomas, Nicolas Claxton, and Kessler Edwards and they have a solid young core moving forward. An NBA executive believes that the Nets could bolster that young core even further with the acquisition of 28-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis.
“Look, LeBron [James] would never admit this, but he misses Kyrie [Irving]. Kyrie has admitted he misses LeBron, but it counts just as much going the other way. LeBron misses Kyrie. That is why he got [Russell] Westbrook, he wanted that point guard who could take over games and take pressure off of him. That is what he had in Kyrie. He does not have that anymore,” An NBA executive told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney and Steve Bullpett.
“So yeah, if you are LeBron and you can talk AD into going to play with Durant in Brooklyn, you can do a clean swap, Kyrie for AD. If I am the Lakers though, I am pushing for a shooter, I want to get Joe Harris, take a chance he can get healthy. They can do THT and AD for Harris and Kyrie, it is good for all sides.”
LeBron Leaves Door Open for Cleveland Return
When the Lakers won the 2020 NBA title inside of the Disney Bubble it looked like LeBron and AD were going to be the NBA’s next great duo. But since then, the Lakers have not garnered much success on the floor. A groin injury to Davis ultimately sealed a loss to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of last year’s playoffs and at the All-Star break, the team is 27-31 sitting In 9th place in the Western Conference. As it stands now James is committed to the Lakers until next summer when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. But when that time comes, he says a return to the Cleveland Cavaliers is still in the cards.
“The door’s not closed on that,” James told Jason Lloyd of “The Athletic”. “I’m not saying I’m coming back and playing; I don’t know. I don’t know what my future holds. I don’t even know when I’m free.”
LeBron James says ‘door’s not closed’ on return to Cavaliers, but intends to play final season with son Bronny
With the Lakers struggling and LeBron already having his sights on a possible Hollywood exit, the Lakers front office could soon be in rebuild mode. With Davis’ extensive injury history, selling on him to build for the future may be a chance the Lakers have to take.
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