After signing LeBron James in free agency this past summer, some expected the Los Angeles Lakers to continue overhauling their roster by trading for a second All-Star. However, they decided against breaking up the young core and instead filled out their roster with veterans.
Prior to the signing of James, or Paul George remaining with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson said the franchise was taking a two-year approach to getting the team back into contention.
With James now in the fold, the Lakers are expected to be among the teams that chase Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson, among others, in 2019 free agency. Should they fail to sign any of the three, Anthony Davis has been mentioned as a possible trade target.
Naturally, James is open to the possibility of joining forces with Davis, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin:
“That would be amazing,” James told ESPN on Tuesday before the Lakers’ game against the Brooklyn Nets. “That would be amazing, like, duh. That would be incredible.”
Davis is owed $27.1 million next season and holds a $28.8 million player option for the 2020-21 season. As speculation mounts he is not long for New Orleans, the Pelicans reportedly will look to be aggressive in surrounding the versatile big man with talent.
A trade for Davis presumably would require the Lakers to do what they’ve resisted thus far — part with Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram or Kyle Kuzma in a trade. Although the front office hasn’t acted on such, they reportedly are willing to do so if it means acquiring a superstar talent.
Adding another layer of intrigue to the possibilities is Davis joined Klutch Sports over the summer and is now represented by Rich Paul. He of course is James’ agent as well, which added more fuel to speculation Davis will ultimately join the Lakers one way or another.
