Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers should give up everything for Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis is a once-in-a-generational talent and the Los Angeles Lakers should give up whatever it takes to acquire him

The Los Angeles Lakers are in win-now mode with Kevin Durant being injured and heading into the second season with LeBron James.

The 2020 NBA championship is wide open and the time for The King to deliver a ring to the purple and gold is next season.

The Golden State Warriors, for the past two seasons, when healthy, have been so much better than their competition that they have had a virtual monopoly on winning the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. However, not next season. Now, multiple teams in the Western Conference are contenders to make it to the NBA Finals.

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One move that the Lakers can make to jump into that group of contenders is to trade for Anthony Davis. And it’s important for Los Angeles to try and get a deal done now, so they can shift their focuse to free agency.

It has been reported that the Lakers have offered Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and the fourth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft for Anthony Davis. However, the Pelicans want Kyle Kuzma as part of a package. The Lakers could also trade their fourth pick and young players to get other assets to provide to the Pelicans, perhaps in a bigger three or four team trade.

Anthony Davis is likely going to walk out the door for the 2020 free agency, and the Pelicans could get nothing for him. This is, in essence, what happened to OKC and Kevin Durant. Even if OKC could have gotten players as good Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball for KD, they would have better off than letting Kevin Durant sign with the Warriors for nothing.

Even though the New Orleans Pelicans are holding out for the right deal, the closer that the season comes the more that AD’s trade value falls.

The Pelicans should have taken the Lakers initial offer of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart (if it was in fact offered at the NBA Trade Deadline). The Pelicans could have also unloaded Solomon Hill’s contract. Alternatively, the Lakers could offer their original godfather and keep the fourth overall pick. However, depending on what the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks can offer for AD, it will determine what the Lakers will have to give up.

In light of this potential historic trade, it is important to review other big trade deals in NBA history. To be honest, there has never been a superstar of Anthony Davis’s magnitude and potential upside traded since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

As basketball historians will remember, in 1975, the Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers, and Junior Bridgeman. The deal has been regarded as one of the worst trades of all time. This trade is arguably what built the Lakers into the franchise they currently are today. Without this trade, showtime Lakers would have never existed, and even Magic Johnson would not have won his titles.

Similarly, in 2004, the Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and a first-round pick. Despite what many think, the Lakers won this deal because they needed to build a team around Kobe. And Shaq was aging. The Lakers ended up making three finals appearances within six years of making this deal.

In 2011, the Knicks infamously traded almost their entire starting lineup in Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, and Timofey Mozgov to the Denver Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony. While many think the Knicks got fleeced, Melo was a great player for the Knicks, and the deal did not help the Nuggets very much.

In 2004, the Houston Rockets traded Steve Francis for basically Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, and Reece Gaines. At that time, it was clear that McGrady’s injuries were going to prevent him from ever being the best player in basketball.

The alleged Anthony Davis trade is reminiscent of what the Dwight Howard trade was like when they traded the big man so they could start over. And the Lakers wanted to help build another championship team around the legendary big man. Similar to today, the Lakers were on borrowed time with Kobe Bryant.

The Dwight Howard trade may be the most complex trade in NBA history and it took four teams, five draft picks, and 11 players in 2012 to orchestrate the deal.

The Magic lost Jason Richardson, Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, and Earl Clark.

From the entirety of the deal, the Magic got Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Moe Harkless, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, and center Nikola Vucevic. The Magic also got three first round picks and two second round picks. Orlando also will have a $17.8 million trade exception to use over the next year.

The Lakers ultimately lost Andrew Bynum, Josh McRoberts, guard Christian Eyenga, second round pick, and a first-round pick. The Lakers got Howard, guard Chris Duhon and forward Earl Clark from Orlando.

However, Howard was not the same type of player as Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and O’Neal, who all led the Lakers to championships after joining the team.

However, what is different about the Anthony Davis deal is his apparent insistence on either being in New York or Los Angeles. While the trades mentioned above were made mainly because the superstar and their respective franchise wanted to part ways, it was also the best deal they could get them for their crown jewels. There are teams around the NBA that could make the Pelicans better offers. However, they know that AD will not stay with them, and they do not want to the left holding the bag.

While Kyle Kuzma is the Lakers best young player, it appears that Ball has more value on the trade market. Phoenix has an interest in Lonzo, and so do the Chicago Bulls. Phoenix has many young assets that may interest the Pelicans Josh Jackson, Mikal Bridges, or Kelly Oubre Jr. One of the players could get possible by trade for Ball.

Some have speculated that the Pelicans could turn around and trade Lonzo to get the 7th pick from the Bulls.

The Lakers could also trade some of its young assets to get other pieces for an Anthony Davis trade. The Pelicans are in a unique position in NBA history. And so are the many teams bidding against the Lakers for Anthony Davis. AD is worth far more than what is being proposed in trades, however, to be honest, I think that the Ball, 4th overall pick, and Ingram is the best that the Pelicans can hope for Anthony Davis.

If the Lakers were not on such a strict timeline, they could give the Pelicans nothing and just sign AD during the 2020 free agency. However, Anthony Davis is a generational player, and the Lakers should give up everything to get the deal done.