The Lakers are in trouble.
Reporter Dave McManamin of ‘ESPN’ talked about the LA Lakers and Anthony Davis’ contract extension negotiations on the 7th (hereinafter Korean time).
This season, the Lakers succeeded in rebounding from the worst start and left a lot of afterglow. It is the Lakers who made it through the play-in tournament and made it to the conference finals after upsets against Memphis and Golden State.
The player at the center of the Lakers’ rebound was definitely Anthony Davis. Davis, who struggled with severe injuries in the previous two seasons, succeeded in reviving with an average of 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds this season. He is an attacker, but his presence on defense was absolute.
Of course, Davis is the player who will be at the center of the next season’s plan along with LeBron James. Meanwhile, the Lakers have one major concern. This summer, Davis qualifies for a huge three-year, $165 million contract extension.
As he proved this season, a healthy Davis is undeniably the best big man in the league. However, it takes the risk of injury to hold a huge contract for a long term. Davis, who played more than the previous two seasons, but missed a lot of games this season, only played 56 games in the regular season.
The link to LeBron James is also a factor to consider. Davis and LeBron both get the right to exercise player options after the end of next season. Depending on Lebron’s move, Davis’ contract situation has a lot of room to change. Both may emerge as the big players of the free agent market in 2024.
First of all, reporter McManamin predicted that the Lakers would not rush to extend Davis’ contract.
“Obviously, the Lakers think that Davis and LeBron James’ contracts are a linked deal since they brought in Anthony Davis,” McManamin said. After this, you have to think about leaving as a free agent after opting out.”
“The Lakers want to keep Davis healthy and use him as much as possible next season, but they don’t seem to be interested in a long-term deal with Davis this summer.”
If LeBron decides to leave the team after the end of next season, the Lakers may break up with Davis as well and start a new game. It is the Lakers who need to be more careful in their decision because the situation is more complicated because it is connected to Lebron’s future draft picks.
On the other hand, reporter Brian Windhost of ‘ESPN’, like reporter McManamin, said, “The Lakers don’t want Anthony Davis to be put in a more messy situation by becoming a free agent in the summer of 2024. Davis’ contract extension is an important off-season task for the Lakers.” He also suggested that the Lakers would focus on extending Davis’ contract this summer. 메이저사이트
After a great season, Davis’ contract extension negotiations are expected to be an important topic in LA this offseason. How long will the Lakers and Davis accompany continue?