Jun 16 2019
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After months of incessant rumors and speculation, the Los Angeles Lakers (and LeBron James) finally completed their mission. Anthony Davis is a Laker. In exchange for Davis, the Lakers are sending the New Orleans Pelicans Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and three 1st round picks (including the #4 pick in this years draft).

This trade’s significance across the league cannot be understated. LeBron James earns another chance to chase Michael Jordan’s G.O.A.T. status. Davis finally gets to play in the big market city his star status deserves. The Pelicans’ young core rivals any team in the league. The ripple effects of this trade will be felt across the league immediately and for years to come.

The Lakers Get Their Second Star

Historically speaking, the team who acquires the star player in a trade almost always wins the deal. We’ve seen this many times recently with Jimmy Butler (twice), Kyrie Irving, Paul George and, most notably, Kawhi Leonard.

The difference in the case of Anthony Davis is that Davis will assuredly re-sign long-term in Los Angeles, while none of the previous players listed went to teams in which they previously agreed to sign extensions. The LeBron-era may only last two-three more seasons, but the Anthony Davis-era in Los Angeles could last for the next decade.

The Lakers undoubtedly forfeited a large portion of their future, but who cares about the future when you have the chance to pair a 34 year-old LEBRON JAMES with arguably the most talented big-man of all time. Davis is a 26 year-old superstar in the prime of his career. He ranks third in career PER in league, behind Michael Jordan and his new teammate LeBron James. LeBron recently made eight straight Finals, yet he’s never had a teammate as good as Davis.

No team in the league has more than one star player right now, as I wrote about last week. The Lakers now have two of the best five to seven players in the league. Additionally, they have the cap space to acquire a third star in free agency. The Lakers are undoubtedly the favorites to win the title next season.

New Orleans Does Not Go Down Quietly

This is a very strong haul for the Pelicans. Ingram and Ball are two young, talented players who have yet to reach their ceilings. Hart is another solid young player who can space the floor. Combine those players with massively underrated point guard, Jrue Holiday, and the best prospect in recent memory, Zion Williamson, and the Pelicans have arguably the league’s best young core.

The only downside to the Pelicans’ acquisition of Ingram and Ball is their quickly approaching rookie contract. Ingram will be in the final year of his rookie contract, meaning he’ll be due for an extension that will likely cost New Orleans upwards of $22 million per season. Ball will be in a similar situation the following season.

Agreeing to this trade before Thursday’s draft was important to the Pelicans. New Orleans could package the fourth overall pick to move up for #3 and Zion’s college teammate R.J. Barrett or they could use it to trade down and acquire more assets.

The value of the other draft picks will only be answered in time. The picks won’t fully parlay until the mid-2020’s, so I won’t spend any more time speculating. It could resemble the Nets-Celtics heist of 2014, but as we’ve seen with Boston, draft picks don’t raise banners.

Bad Look for Boston

The Boston Celtics have spent years stockpiling assets in hopes of a superstar of Davis’ caliber becoming available. Yet, when the time came, Danny Ainge lacked the courage to make a deal happen. Ainge passed on trades for Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. He saved his most prized possessions all for Davis.

I can’t exactly blame Ainge for not capitalizing on acquiring Davis considering Kyrie’s inevitable departure made trading Jayson Tatum for one year of Davis incredibly risky. However, Ainge squandered the heist from the Nets trade five years ago. Perhaps Tatum and Jaylen Brown develop into a championship contender in the 2020’s, but regardless, Ainge wasted several golden opportunities to bring superstars to Boston.

LeBron James’ Legacy

Time’s up, Bron-haters. You had your fun for a few months after the Lakers missed the playoffs in embarrassing fashion. You thought LeBron’s career chasing rings was over. He spent his early summer relaxing (for the first time since 2010) and listening to everyone in sports and social media talking about Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Curry being the best in the world. He heard the haters saying his career was over. All you did was add fuel to the fire.

LeBron’s window to chase down Michael Jordan’s G.O.A.T. status once and for all has been reopened. In some people’s minds, he already has achieved it, but certainly not everyone agrees. With Davis, LeBron has a chance to compete for titles once again. I’d bet on LeBron wrecking havoc on the entire league next postseason. King James is coming for his throne.

Effect on Free Agency

With Kevin Durant out all of next season and Klay Thompson returning to Golden State, all eyes turn towards Kawhi and Kyrie. If one of those players decide to join LeBron and Davis on the Lakers, it’s over for the rest of the NBA next season. However, that seems unlikely, so the Lakers will instead turn towards one of the second tier stars like Butler or Walker. Butler has been actively liking AD-Lakers posts on social media, while Marc Stein reports the Lakers will pursue Walker.

The decisions of Kawhi and Kyrie grow even more significant, especially for the 2019-20 season. If one of the two signs with the Lakers, they will have an approximate 99% chance to win the title (barring injuries). If they team up with the Knicks, Nets or Clippers, they can conceivably challenge the Lakers. Almost every other scenario greatly increases the Lakers’ title chances. I don’t think it’s likely Kawhi or Kyrie goes to the Lakers, but it’s definitely more likely today than it was yesterday.

The Lakers, once lagging behind the Nets, Knicks and Clippers in the race for free agents, but now they leap in front of their competitors. Showtime is officially back in Los Angeles.

Posted inBasketball NBA NBA Summer 2019
Tagsanthony davis brandon ingram kawhi leonard kyrie irving lebron james lonzo ball los angeles lakers new orleans pelicans zion willamson

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