Los Angeles Lakers: Are NBA Finals hurting chances of landing Anthony Davis

Kevin Durant goes down with a potential Achilles tear…Now free agency as we know it changes

As a NBA fan, I can’t tell you how angry and upset I was watching one of the best players in the world go down like this. NBA media, players and the Warriors were beside themselves in grief.

Let’s be clear here, the keys to the NBA free agency was being handed to him as you read this. Where Kevin Durant was going to end up was not only going to affect the Lakers and their potential chances if he left the Warriors, but the entire NBA on how the free agency was going to play out.

Here’s where the injury and the Lakers come in. Most thought (Lake Show Life didn’t!) that Kevin Durant would be leaving the Warriors for the Knicks, no matter if the Dubs won the championship or not. If Durant had left and joined the Knicks, New York could have put together a package around the number three pick in the draft (Presumably R.J. Barrett), young players and the draft picks acquired in the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

With Anthony Davis reportedly naming cities at this point (New York and Los Angeles), the Knicks looked like a threat to the Lakers. Any Anthony Davis decision concerning a Knicks uniform had Durant in mind joining him. It would be hard to see the Knicks being able to swing a deal with the Pelicans at this point.

Will Kevin Durant get his money? Yes. Even if he opts out, there will be teams lining up to sign him to a max deal. One of those teams includes that Warriors who can offer the $221 million dollar super max contract. But with this injury, the speculation will be more rampant than trying to figure out what Kawhi Leonard is thinking at the moment, much less free agency.

Plus with Durant on the shelf for presumably a year or if he takes the security of Golden State’s max deal, it may cause more teams to change the mission statement and chase a deal with the Pelicans. Even though Anthony Davis stated he will only re-sign with a few teams, the Toronto Raptors gamble with Kawhi Leonard has provided options to a team like Boston who is known to gamble in deals.

Speaking of Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors unprecedented success with a potential rental has changed the market place for players who don’t list potential teams on the media release.