Championship or bust
As stated before, the initial reaction to the trade by most people was that the Lakers will be hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the season. Even Las Vegas has Los Angeles as the favorites to win the title next season. While it’s not crazy to think the Lakers could do that, there is no reason to think so yet. However, for Los Angeles’ sake, they better.
All of the eyes, and pressure, in the league has now shifted squarely on the tandem of James and Davis. The team essentially put all of its eggs in the basket of winning a title in the next two seasons. James isn’t getting any younger, and the injury bug finally plagued him last year. With the minutes load he has every year he likely only has two years of elite basketball left.
Davis has already been called out as an injury-plagued player who isn’t a guarantee to be on the floor by the end of the season. With a lack of first round picks and young players to develop, the Lakers have no choice but to win it all in the next couple of seasons, or this pairing will be viewed as a massive failure.
If the goal was to better their chances of winning a title right now, then they definitely accomplished that. If it was to guarantee a title though then it’s a different story. Any of these things could come back to haunt the Lakers after this trade, and you shouldn’t be surprised if they do.