Superstar big man Anthony Davis holds a $28.75MM player option for the 2020/21 season, but the expectation is that he’ll turn down that option in order to sign a new contract with the Lakers. Asked after Sunday’s win about his potential free agency, Davis was noncommittal, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes.
“I have no idea,” Davis said. “I don’t know.”
Asked to clarify his initial comment, Davis continued: “I had a great time in L.A. this first year. This has been nothing but joy, nothing but amazement. Over the next couple of months, we’ll figure it out. I mean, I’m not 100% sure, but that’s why my agent (Rich Paul) is who he is, and we’ll discuss it and figure it out.”
Davis faced a significant backlash during the 2018/19 season when he publicly requested a trade out of New Orleans and made it clear that the Lakers were his preferred landing spot. After a few uncomfortable months following his initial request, he got the trade he wanted, and his first season in L.A. played out about as well as he could have hoped.
Davis averaged 26.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.2 APG, and 2.3 BPG in 62 regular season games (34.4 MPG) for the Lakers, finishing sixth in MVP voting and second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He followed that up by recording 27.7 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.4 BPG in 21 postseason contests en route to the first title of his career.
“It’s just part of your legacy, to say you’re a champion,” the 27-year-old said on Sunday, per Youngmisuk. “Not everybody can say that. I wanted to do the same thing in New Orleans. … When I got traded, that’s all I wanted was to be a champion. To be able to compete, be able to win. I was able to do that my first year with the Lakers.”
It may seem unusual in the wake of such a successful year that Davis wouldn’t express a desire to return to the Lakers in stronger terms. Still, it would be shocking if he seriously considers signing with another club once he becomes a free agent. Any uncertainty he conveyed on Sunday about his situation likely applies to the length and structure of his next contract rather than his destination.
The salary cap for the 2020/21 season remains up in the air, but the cap would have to dip substantially to make it worthwhile for Davis to consider opting in for $28.75MM. If the cap remains at the same level as it did in ’19/20, AD’s maximum salary on a new contract would be about $32.74MM.
While the Lakers would certainly be willing to put a five-year, maximum-salary offer on the table for Davis this fall, it might make more sense for him to accept a shorter-term deal, especially with the NBA’s cap situation in flux. In 2022, he’d be able to receive a starting salary worth 35% of the cap, rather than the 30% he can get now, so waiting until then to sign a long-term contract would allow him to maximize his future earnings.
1+1 in LA. He’ll sign with the Bulls in 2 years.
He will sign a 1+1 deal, but who knows where he goes in 2022. Could be Chicago.
One thing is for sure, it won’t be to play midget ball with the Rockets.
No brained he will stay with the Lakers for two years .
I think he will hard pressed to get a max deal the lakers will likely offer him over 5 years in today’s current economy. The Chicago bulls rumors are laughable seeing as they are as poorly run as the Knicks.
The state of the economy doesn’t matter to the billionaires that own NBA franchises. They all know the economy will turn around at some point, and when it does they all want Anthony Davis on the roster.
He’ll get the max from every team that has cap space…which is not to say I think he’s leaving.
Lakers make 200 million off time Warner tv contract and another 100 million off nba contract.. they have more than enough money to sign AD
Most likely Davis returns to the Lakers long-term, but I never count out the possibility that a player chooses to play for his hometown team.
There are more laughable things in the league beside that notion…like saying Dwight Howard dominates Bam Adebayo.
Marlins you clearly didn’t watch game 1.
Wait…so Dwight Howard dominated Adebayo because he did well against a man (who was already hurt) in one game out of how many?
So the fact that Adebayo outplayed Howard in the series doesn’t count? Or did you miss the other games that Adebayo played in this series? They couldn’t even keep Howard in there against Adebayo in those games.
Again, laughable. One game out of how many in this series and before this series.
Keep defending your ill-advised statement. You’re showing who you truly are. Unless you want to admit that you spoke too soon and want to retract?
In The Finals, and thanks to a blowout Game 6 that padded pathetic stats, Bam averaged 15 points/6 rebounds/2.5 assists/0.75 blocks/0.25 steals. Clearly far off from Regular Season stat line. In Game 1, the All-Star scored 8 pts. on 25% shooting, to go along w/ a total of 4 reb., 0 ast., 0 blocks, 0 steals (with a +/- of -18). He wound up splitting time and being outplayed by Kelly Olynyk. In the time that Dwight and Bam were on the court together, Dwight dominated not only Bam, but the entire Heat squad on the defensive end, offensive glass, and drawing fouls… You’re clearly biased, but anyone who knows basketball (which you’ll say you do, as it seems like you’ve got the entire world figured out) knows that Howard had a much greater overall impact on the game than Bam… Dwight did his job, like the rest of the team, and that’s why they’re NBA Finals Champs.
Please…Dwight Howard rode LeBron and AD’s coattails. In Game 1, Adebayo was already hurt from the previous series. Once he returned, they couldn’t even keep Dwight on the court long.
The Lakers won because they were better because of your two best players – not because of Dwight.
You’re speaking from a biased point of view. Your team won because of your two best players. Dwight has a ring now because of them. Don’t try to act like he was the reason. If the Lakers didn’t have AD, and were left to face the Heat with LeBron and Dwight working together against Butler and Adebayo, we would have won in 5 because Dwight was not stopping Adebayo, and the very second the Lakers would’ve had to stick LeBron to cover him, that was going to open up Butler even more, along with our perimeter guys even more.
Dwight is a has-been, and can’t handle a healthy Adebayo. That’s a joke and laughable notion.
The Lakers traded for Anthony Davis with the intention of giving him the max deal. Anyone thinking that is not going to happen is just wishful hater mentality.
I agree that it’s 1+1, to mirror with what LBJ has left on his deal.
Not saying that AD couldn’t be the guy to lead the Lakers if he were still there if/when James leaves, but his previous track record is not great either.
I think he’ll take a 1+1 deal just to see how LeBron ages… he should strongly consider taking a Max deal though, due to his injury history.
Predict a 1+1 then sign with LJ where they decide then.
Cleveland is possible but so are the Knicks and so is the possibility that Dolan can be pried out of that team with an assist from LJ’s hollywood connections. Dolan had hardball business with Ballmer and imagine the rivalries if Dolan changes coast focus. Is Dolan interested in the movies? He could get a lot for the Knicks. What are his goals?— sit there and get roasted by the many fans? Then there’s James vs Irving crosstown.
For LJ, the Laker choice, stay in LA and let locals pick away at signs of decline, does not sound nearly as invigorating. He got LA a title, like with Cleveland, and a WC one, for his legacy; so can wrap it up there. His TV/movie side does not seem to be boosted and he does not care for the talk of of compromised attention to BB. Cleveland is viable because people like him as a local kid doing well and not so much as a bully. His Nike ads show that. The Cavs could trade Love for an expiring; they should for Horford anyway.
Also an anyway, in the shortterm, AD positioning for a 1+1 makes sense regardless.
Such madness. But not illogical.
I think Lebron is done with the Cavs for good.
And I don’t get why the Knicks keep being mentioned. They have already been rejected by LeBron through three free agency opportunities.
LOL…And he mentions locals in LA picking away at LeBron’s decline but mentions that he could go to the Knicks…In New York…Where the media is absolutely brutal while having the most belligerent fans in the nation (outside of Philly, of course).
Lame take.
Because Dolan hurts his “brand”.
The NYC and Cleveland “options” are very different but at this point, help to keep to keep each other open.
As a Cavs site commenter… I never heard fear of losing him to the Knicks like there might be confidence on Knick’s site on getting him. Mostly the idea seemed humorous or pointless. Right now a NYC move seems farfetched but I think fans there would support anything that gets Dolan out.
To leave LA would require a reason and it would be either hometown or stepping up or the challenge. He’s done maxxes, titles, mvps.
LJ has a 3+1 not a 4-yr. contract.
LeBron has two years left on his contract which takes him through his age 37 season. AD will be signing a 1+1 deal this off-season, and then both guys will be signing a Max deal in two years once their deals expire… Got a feeling LeBron wants to play until he’s 40 and one more max contract puts him at age 41.. I do think he’s got at least 2-3 years of elite MVP play left in him but by the time 2022-23 season roles around, AD could be the 1A to his 1B.
Could also see AD leaving to go play in Chicago and LeBron setting himself to play with whichever team drafts his son 2023/2024).
Why would LBJ leave the Lakers?
Lebron has a 3+1 contract not a 4. He can leave in 2021. He could easily get $41mil by any team that has that capspace. For LAL, at this point, all other contracts end in 2021 which certainly opens up the options! But it might be Davis’s “turn”… or Pelinka’s… but I digress.
link to basketball-reference.com
Hate to be political, but… the political “right” has set up LJ as the face of the enemy in basketball. Right or wrong doesn’t matter. He will— has been— demonized in LA in a way that he wouldn’t be in the capital of the noisy unfettered always “blue”, NYC. In NYC he would just be one of the 1%!
First two results in bing:
link to complex.com
This one is funny. “[“the right watch”]: Far-right Christian conspiracy theorist or troubled Houston Rockets fan? You be the judge.”
This one is serious & I didn’t read, but it was first in bing:
link to thenation.com
Not saying I agree with any of this, just responding to doubts about his possible fate in LA as a traditional outsider. In NYC, fans used to assume he would wind up there, and were so jilted they make no assumptions about Giannis. Owner Dolan may also be why, so LJ needs him out first. That I’m not sure about.
LeBron sign with the Lakers for reasons beyond basketball
He is not going anywhere
Everybody knows that when Cleveland trades up to draft Bronny, they’ll bring in LBJ, CP3, 50yr old Korver, KLove, and whoever else to “chase a ring.”
Uh, they already have KLove. Are they going to trade him away to bring him back?
::insert meme of black dude pointing to his temple::
Trade Love away for picks they use to trade up in 23-24.
His contract isn’t the one that matters, Lakers won’t let him leave. Its who they use Green, Kuzma, McGee, Cook and THT’s contract on that cements the next AD deal. 27.63M to play with. Oladipo, Beal, LaVine? They’ll find a way to fill out the rest of the roster as time goes on.
Beal, etc knows this… Lakers can set up a new star in 2022— with Beal or Giannis or a number of others— and build a new team from scratch probably without difficulty, so why fight LJ leaving? AD may stay rather than see the Batman/Robin thing repeated.
Well best to leave options open for now.
Imagine finally getting out of New Orleans to go win a chip in LA with Lebron and then going right back to an awful situation in Chicago. He’s staying in LA for a while sorry to break it to you.
He’ll likely do a 1/1 regardless of his future plans. He’ll want to get to Year 10 and the 35% level for his next long term deal.
I think he means “champion*”, as it will forever be asterisked.
I reference Bas.Ref., not Dodgethis: no asterisks.
LeBron and AD is Magic and Kareem all over again. Only difference is the Showtime Lakers had AC Green,Mychael Thompson,James Worthy,Byron Scott,and Michael Cooper to go along with Magic and Kareem.
What the Lakers have around LeBron and AD is questionable beyond Rajon Rondo, Caldwell-Pope and Caruso are wild cards.
My gut feeling is that he will sign a deal similar to Kawhi Leonard did with the Clippers. A three year deal with a player option after the second year .