One of the biggest concerns across the NBA in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is how it will affect each respective team’s overall revenues for next season. Such could impact free agency, which is of interest to Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers.
When the Lakers traded for Davis the intention was obviously to re-sign him to a max-level contract as soon as possible. That would have been this summer, but things have been postponed and that new deal will have to wait.
Davis previously rejected a contract extension in January in favor of waiting to reach free agency. That was largely expected, and the deadline was well before the NBA shut down.
With so many teams potentially losing money this year due to the massive drop in revenue, there are some worries about certain teams being in financial constraints. The Lakers don’t appear to be one of those teams, however.
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Lakers’ TV contract with Spectrum SportsNet will help the team still bring in a significant amount of revenue and therefore their financial ability to re-sign Davis should not be impacted:
The Lakers, however, still likely will have no issues in re-signing star Anthony Davis, as their local television deal brings them around $200 million annually, sources said. Added with their national television share, the Lakers could bring in more than $300 million if they don’t sell a single ticket.
There is a reason the Lakers are constantly ranked as one of the most valuable franchises in all of sports, and this is a major reason why. Surely they will be affected financially by the pandemic, but not nearly to the level of other teams.
The most important goal for the Lakers once the offseason begins is securing Davis to a long-term contract. He has proven to be worth everything the team traded away to acquire him and currently leads the Lakers in points, rebounds, steals and blocks.
He’s one of the favorites to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award and also seems likely to be an All-NBA First Team selection.
AD confident Lakers are trending in ‘right direction’
Although the Lakers clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, seeding games in Orlando have hardly been smooth sailing. The team is on a three-game losing streak and haven’t found any sort of consistency with rotations.
Davis nonetheless came away encouraged by their effort in a loss to the Indiana Pacers. “I think we’re close,” he said. “We took steps in the right direction tonight. We saw shots fall from the perimeter, which we haven’t seen since we’ve been here.
“Guys had great looks and just missed. The more and more we play, take the shots with confidence, we’ll be fine.”
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)