Getty Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis.
The Los Angeles Lakers may be in the midst of an important playoff series but that doesn’t mean that Anthony Davis‘ impending free agency isn’t on their mind. The superstar big man appears to be staying but anything is possible. He hasn’t signed an extension yet so the Lakers would be foolish to believe that he can’t change his mind.
A problem facing Los Angeles is that Davis is from Chicago and sometimes a desire to return home is very strong. It also doesn’t help that the big man hasn’t ruled it out as a possibility. While Davis will certainly be tempted, Zack Buckley of Bleacher Report believes that Chicago is the worst place the superstar could end up:
So, Davis to Chicago probably can happen, but it shouldn’t.
First off, why would he even want a change of scenery when staying put means championship-chasing with LeBron James in Hollywood? Imagine having the King as your costar and deciding you’d rather run with Zach LaVine. Impossible—no matter how much you’re craving deep-dish pizza or an Italian beef sandwich.
If Davis did want to leave, why wouldn’t he just head to the Heat to team with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo? Davis could fit right into the salary slot Miami had been saving on the fingers-crossed hope of Giannis Antetokounmpo coming that way next summer. Davis would even get more star power in Atlanta (Trae Young) or Phoenix (Devin Booker) than Chicago can offer.
If Davis wasn’t from Chicago, would it even be mentioned as a possible landing spot? Almost certainly not, which says everything you need to know about all the ways this wouldn’t make sense.
Lakers Can’t Lose Davis
Davis hasn’t committed to the Lakers publicly but reports have suggested he doesn’t plan to go anywhere. He’s helped turn the team into title contenders and it wouldn’t make any sense for him to go to a lesser team. He left the New Orleans Pelicans because he was tired of losing. If he stays in Los Angeles, he’ll at least be competing for titles for the next two or three seasons.
If he left the Lakers, it would be a massive disaster for the team. They mortgaged their future to land him and have already seen Brandon Ingram turn into an All-Star. Losing that for one season of Davis would have to go down as one of the worst trades in recent memory.
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Lakers Need to Keep Adding Stars to Keep Davis
As long as the Lakers have LeBron James, they should have a really good shot at keeping Davis around. The two men have a strong relationship and clearly play well together. However, LeBron is getting up there in age and can’t play at a high level forever.
Reports have indicated that Davis would prefer to keep his contracts short. That likely has a lot to do with the fact that LeBron is nearing retirement. If the Lakers plan to keep Davis past a few seasons, they’ll need to keep adding stars after LeBron starts to decline.
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