Suffice to say, LeBron James was stoked once he learned Anthony Davis was officially a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
When Anthony Davis gave Rich Paul the seal of approval to be his new agent, an abundance of speculation immediately arose. Most of that speculation revolved around the idea of Davis uniting with three-time champion LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Of course, Davis did not necessarily join the Lakers in the blink of an eye. Despite Davis’ mid-season trade request, a deal was never finalized at that juncture.
It had many wondering if the Lakers were destined to strike out again once the summer came about. The previous few summers had not been kind to the team, and it seemed like nothing they did was ever enough to convince big-time talent to don the purple and gold uniform.
However, that elongated string of bad luck finally concluded back in June. At that point in time, the Lakers acquired Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans in what ended up being quite a blockbuster trade.
The Lakers shipped Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and several first-round draft picks to New Orleans to make the transaction possible. Granted it was a lot to sacrifice, Los Angeles got a bona fide superstar in return. As a result, the squad can make a reasonable argument that they currently possess two of the top five players in the league.
Once the deal was official, Lakers’ fans were naturally thrilled about the idea of AD being the newest member of the team. Despite that, fans were not the only ones who jumped for joy after hearing about the trade.
According to Harrison Faigen of SB Nation, James was every bit as ecstatic when the Davis news was declared. The Brow recently shed light on just how excited James was when he realized the former was a Laker.
Faigen goes on to point out that AD made a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. While on the show, Davis revealed that The King sent him a text almost instantly after the news broke out.
"Kimmel: How quickly after you got that news did you hear from LeBron James?Davis: Maybe like 10 minutes after? It was a long text, ‘yeah bro! We finally got you! Yeah!’ … He was excited. That was a good feeling, just to have someone like that be one of the first people to text me."
Frankly, it is hard to blame James for having the type of reaction he did. The addition of Davis alone made the Lakers leap into the tier of being a legit title contender. That is a status they have not held in a number of years.
Getting a player of AD’s caliber also makes it a little easier to forget how the 2018-2019 season went. Although many thought the Lakers could sneak into the playoffs, the campaign did not go according to plan.
Having Davis aboard totally changes the Lakers’ outlook moving forward. His presence gives the 16-time champions a dynamic big man who can score with the best of them, patrol the paint, and pass the rock to the open man when need be.
As Ralph Orense of ClutchPoints alluded to, the trade entailed some risk. Given that the Lakers gave up as much as they did, a lot is being expected of Davis. Thus, if something goes amiss, the franchise will not have a “foundation to build” on in the ensuing years.
At the same time, the Lakers have a strong roster on paper. Let alone Davis and James, Rob Pelinka filled out the roster with some solid role players this offseason. On that note, if the Lakers do not deal with a lot of issues this year, bright skies may be lurking.