Anthony DavisLebron James

Why the Lakers should trade Anthony Davis

Whenever a team makes a blockbuster trade, the goal is to win a championship. If you win, well, the cost doesn’t matter, until it does. When the Lakers finally agreed in 2019 on a trade with the Pelicans that would send Anthony Davis to Hollywood, everyone knew the price was steep.

Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and three future first round picks, steep. The Lakers gutted the team’s depth in an all-out effort to be the last team standing, but a once-in-a-lifetime, hopefully, global pandemic forced them to capture a title in Walt Disney World. There was no parade, no celebration at the Staples Center, now known as crypto.com Arena. For the most part, it’s almost like it never happened. Never before did the NBA just hit the pause button on a season, allowing teams to rest up and refuel for a playoff push. 

Players like the often-injured Davis and aging LeBron James greatly benefited from that break, only to later face off against a Miami Heat team that under normal circumstances, would’ve never made it that far to begin with. Jimmy Butler’s coffee must’ve been truly magical in the bubble. 

So once reality resumed and life started slowly returning to normalcy, Lakers fans saw a banner in their arena that rivals the ones that are hung by teams that relocated. Since that championship-winning day, it has become commonplace to debate whether the ring is legitimate as it’s often referred to as a “Mickey Mouse ring.” 

As the never-ending debate rages on, the Lakers have been unable to capture the magic again, failing to get out of the first round in 2020-21, and not qualifying for the playoffs at all last season. Meanwhile in New Orleans, the young Pelicans are thriving, led by Ingram and a team assembled thanks to the draft picks and flexibility provided by the purple and gold. New Orleans is coming off an unlikely playoff appearance last season and has jumped out to a 13-8 record this year, good enough for third in the Western Conference. Yet the Lakers are 8-12, 13th in the conference, and trending in the complete opposite direction. The roster is uninspiring with an aging core and couldn’t be further from a title right now. 

Should the Lakers trade Anthony Davis?

By now, the answer is an obvious and resounding one. Yes. 

It’s time to recoup some draft picks, gain some flexibility, and plan for the future. The Lakers are an organization that has always tried to do right by their stars, but we’ve all seen how LeBron has left his former teams. In shambles, most of the time. Trading him is not an option though, thanks to a restriction in the contract after signing an extension last offseason. He will officially become trade eligible on February 18, 2023, nine days after the deadline passes.

Do the Lakers prefer to blow the team up in the offseason and start over? Probably, but capitalizing on enormous trade deadline prices for a team desperate to add another star might be the best course of action in Davis’ case. If he’s healthy and a team wants to go all-in, it would be the perfect time to strike. The Lakers got their banner and no matter how unfulfilling it might be, the trade will always be deemed a success as a result, even when it shouldn’t be. Right now it would be in the best interest of general manager Rob Pelinka to start fielding calls for the NBA’s version of a going out of business sale.

Who knows, maybe the Pelicans will make the call. We know they have the assets. Just know that right now, these Lakers are on borrowed time so don’t waste your hard-earned money on this group.

author
Nick Brinkerhoff
Sports Journalist
Hello there, I’m Nick Brinkerhoff, a New Jersey native with enough sarcasm and attitude to show I’m not from New York. Despite being Jersey born and bred, I’m a diehard New York sports fan (Jets, Nets, Rangers, Mets) who has seen plenty of losing, but my sports betting ability will hopefully continue to balance those scales. I have season tickets to the Jets but believe it to be more character building than bad asset management. Althoug
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