Los Angeles Lakers: The trade to meet New Orleans’ asking price
By Jason Reed
The trade speculation around Anthony Davis is growing with all of the latest reports favoring the Los Angeles Lakers in particular.
Under new guidance, led by President of Basketball Operations David Griffin, new reports have surfaced about what we should expect in an Anthony Davis trade for the New Orleans Pelicans. All of these reports being good news to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Right now, there is a belief that the Lakers are the frontrunners for Davis. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said that the Lakers were “the leaders in the clubhouse for Anthony Davis”. This comes on the same day that it was reported that Davis views the Lakers and New York Knicks as potential long-term homes.
The most substantial report, at least in terms of affecting the Lakers’ method of business, was the reported asking price for Davis. Griffin is reportedly asking for one all-star player, one young player with all-star potential and two draft picks in exchange for Davis.
That is not an absurd package for Davis and certainly is one worth giving to contend for a title. The only problem for the Lakers is that the team does not have an established all-star outside of LeBron James, so the team is going to have to include a third team.
We knocked our heads around looking at potential third teams that could benefit from this trade. We thought about Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards, but it didn’t fit logistically. A sign and trade for Kemba Walker also crossed our minds, although we ultimately decided otherwise.
And instead of giving you a spread out article with all of these different possibilities, we decided to present you with the one three-team trade that we think could get the job done and get Davis to Los Angeles.
The hardest part of this deal would be getting LeBron James’ former team to cooperate James and help, but there does not appear to be any bad blood, so it might not even be an issue.
Griffin is also the former GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers, so there are connections between all three teams and there should be a desire on all three sides to get this deal done.
The Lakers obviously want to get Davis and including a third team that can send an all-star helps the team maintain one piece of the young core. In this instance, it is Kyle Kuzma.
The Pelicans would be inclined to do this deal as it would give them an all-star to keep the team competitive. While they won’t be title contenders, the Pelicans can do a lot of damage with the current roster plus Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson, Kevin Love and the fourth overall pick in the draft.
Just imagine a starting five of Ball, Jrue Holliday, Zion Williamson, Kevin Love and Julius Randle (if he stays, of course). That might be a little on the small side but that is already one of the most exciting starting fives in all of basketball.
As for the Cavaliers, the team really has no shot of contending and are paying Love for nothing. Flipping him for an upcoming forward in Brandon Ingram as well as a sharpshooting big man in Moritz Wagner helps financially.
They would take on the one-year contract of Solomon Hill to sweeten the offer and might even ask the Lakers for another pick. Either way, the Cavaliers would be adding to their young core while freeing up money in the process.
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It checks all of the boxes for all of the teams and with not many possible suitors, the Cleveland Cavaliers should be the first team that the Los Angeles Lakers call to try and get a three-team deal done.