It’s been a hell of a week for Rob Pelinka and Lakers Nation. Yesterday, LeBron James signed a two-year $85 million extension, and this morning, Anthony Davis signed a five-year $190 million extension with the Lakers (obviously). Before I get into things, I need to bring up the fact that this deal was announced by Woj at 4:40 AM Pacific time. I have two possible explanations as to how this deal was completed while the entire West Coast was dead asleep. Either they were up ALL NIGHT trying to get a deal done, which caused them to work into the early hours of Thursday OR Davis and Pelinka are on the East Coast. Either way, it’s pretty insane that the deal was announced when it was, mostly because it probably went seemingly unknown for hours until us LA folk started waking up. If I sounds unappreciative, I promise I’m not…waking up to this news rivaled waking up on Christmas morning.
The James and Davis deals (I would assume) ends an extremely eventful offseason for the Lakers after acquiring or resigning: Jared Dudley, KCP, Markieff Morris, Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrel, Dennis Schroder, and Wesley Matthews.
The Lakers absolutely got better ahead of the 2020-2021 season, but it is worth noting they parted ways with a few key contributors from last season: Danny Green, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, JaVale McGee, and Dwight Howard.
Out on Giannis
Now that the Lakers lineup seems to be pretty much set for this coming season, what do the massive extensions to James and Davis mean for the future of the Lakers? Well first of all, I think it pretty much takes them out of the Giannis sweepstakes. Because of the cap, it’s nearly impossible for them to sign Giannis as a free agent without other players (the most expensive being Davis and James) taking a significant pay cut. Their only real shot at getting him now would be a massive trade in which the Lakers would most likely need to trade away pretty much their entire roster. Seriously though, how many games do you think a three-man team made up of only LeBron, AD, and Giannis would win? I would honestly put the over/under at 50…and even that might be too low.
It would be absolutely insane if the Lakers added Giannis to the two-headed monster that is LeBron and AD, and for that reason, I am out. Even though LeBron is nearing 40, he’s still at the height of his powers, as evidenced by his 2020 Finals MVP award. I can’t in good conscience support adding arguably the best player in the league to this team. After LeBron is gone I have absolutely no problem with adding Giannis, but to add him now would be an embarrassment of riches that no other team in the NBA would be able to compete with.
The Future of LeBron James
My first thought when I saw LeBron only extended for another two years, I thought it meant he plans to retire after the 2022-2023 season. However, in constructing his deal the way he did, he’s actually making more money per season now than he was before, and it doesn’t conflict with the over-38 rule in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Plus, he’ll be able to stick around for Bronny to enter the NBA (in 2023), should the rules change to allow players to straight out of high school to enter the NBA draft. Should Bronny even be good enough to get drafted straight out of high school, they’ll only be able to get him in the 2nd round anyway, since they traded away their 1st round picks until the end of time to the Pelicans.
It’s hard to imagine LeBron leaving LA since it was more of a career and lifestyle choice to move here in the first place, but should Bronny be a lottery pick when the 2023 draft rolls around, is 38/39 year-old LeBron willing to relocate to Charlotte or Detroit to play with his son? Unlikely. I still think we’ve got him until he decides to call it quits, but who knows how much longer we have him after 2023.
The Future of Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis is a Laker for life. Unlike in the MLB, where we’ve seen guys sign contracts in the double digits in terms of years, the NBA tops out around five or six years. Davis’ five year extension means the organization plans to keep him around for along time, and means AD is willing to give his prime years to the Lakers. Assuming he stays healthy and competitive, I don’t see them parting ways in the future. He’s already won a championship here, they’ll be competitive for years to come, and all indicators show he loves being in LA…and we love him too. He’s a great locker room guy and someone any GM would dream to build around in the post-LeBron years.
Unlike other guys like Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and John Wall, who have bad relations with teams they thought they’d be with forever after signing massive deals, AD is different, and his situation is different. The main factor being that he has already won a championship. Those other guys have been on frustrating teams that were never able to win the last game of the year, which lead to them being unhappy. Davis on the other hand, seems like he could not be happier to put on a Lakers uniform every day, hopefully for the rest of his career.
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