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The Los Angeles Lakers are running out of options on the trade market. LeBron James committed to the team with a contract extension so the focus has to be on how the team can win now. They recently acquired Patrick Beverley in a trade but he won’t be enough to get them back into title contention.
Anthony Davis is the key to this whole thing. When healthy, he’s one of the five best players in the NBA. The problem is that he’s been rarely healthy the last two seasons. The Lakers paid a fortune to land him from the New Orleans Pelicans and he’s only lost value in the last two years. If Los Angeles truly feels like his value will only decline, they could consider trading him before it’s too late.
Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney spoke to a Western Conference executive who could see a possible deal where Davis gets sent to the Phoenix Suns for a package surrounding DeAndre Ayton and Cam Johnson.
“Phoenix would be an interesting fit too, once Ayton can be traded,” the executive said. “They could do Cam Johnson and Ayton, something like that. I am sure some in L.A. would expect a big return for Davis but with the injuries the last few years, it would be tough to trade him. There’s a lot of reasons why they’d keep him but that is one – you’re not going to get fair value because of the injuries.”
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Would This Be a Fair Trade for Lakers?
Ayton is one of the best young centers in the NBA while Johnson is an emerging wing. They’d be good pieces to have. However, they are not close to as valuable as Davis. Perhaps the deal with the Suns could be made more interesting if Chris Paul is involved but that’s unlikely to happen.
Also, the Lakers would likely have a problem with trading Davis to Phoenix. They’re too close to Los Angeles and they’ve started to form a bit of a rivalry in recent years. A healthy Davis with Paul and Devin Booker are serious title contenders, especially if all they have to do is give up Ayton and Johnson. This isn’t a deal the Lakers will consider right now.
Lakers Won’t Trade Davis
The Lakers worked hard to get Davis on the team and worked out great at first. He was excellent in his first year in Los Angeles and helped lead the team to a championship. He won’t have the same longevity as LeBron but he can still be an elite player for several more years.
There’s no reason to trade Davis right now. They wouldn’t get fair value with him and he still forms an elite duo with LeBron. Now, this season is very important. If he has another injury-plagued year, the team might have to reevaluate his status but they’ll give him a year under Darvin Ham to turn things around.
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