While the short-term goal for the Los Angeles Lakers is to win another NBA Championship in 2021 the long-term plans have always been quite clear.
Right now, LeBron James and Anthony Davis represent the best Lakers duo since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal (sorry, Pau) and are the only reason why the Lakers cannot be counted out no matter how they played in the regular season.
It is no secret that LeBron is getting up there in age and while he has alluded father time thus far, it eventually will catch up to him. Davis, meanwhile, is still only 28 years old so he has plenty of basketball left in him.
The long-term plan seems to be to give LeBron and AD their title window before transitioning into a new era where Davis is the face of the team with a new star alongside him. Think Kobe Bryant going from Shaq to Gasol (although Davis is not the player Kobe was).
While this is a solid plan talent-wise and one that many (myself included) have gotten behind, it might be time to re-evaluate the plan, particularly the Anthony Davis aspect.
Why Anthony Davis might not be fit to be the centerpiece of the Los Angeles Lakers:
It is really simple and it all boils down to one word and one word only: injuries. Anthony Davis has all the talent in the world but he is also one of the most injury-prone players in the entire NBA.
Davis was questionable heading into the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 4 matchup with a left knee sprain. While he gutted it out and played, he was removed early with a left groin strain and is now day-to-day for the rest of the series.
The Lakers are in serious trouble if they do not get him back. They absolutely will lose the series if Davis is a shell of his healthy self.
This is not an overreaction about Davis’ current injury, either. It is not even an overreaction about his calf injury that kept him out for over half the season, which is the entire reason why they are the seventh seed. Throughout his entire career, Davis has run into injuries time and time again.
Just look at his extensive list of injuries. It is concerning.
Davis has played over 70 games just twice in his career (although to be fair, there were only 71 games last season and he played 62). The laundry list of minor (and sometimes more major) injuries is not what you want out of your star player. Your franchise centerpiece.
Modern-day NBA is an everchanging landscape with players deciding that they are unhappy one minute and want to be on team x, y, or z the other minute. A door will open for the Lakers to surround Davis with a star, as long as he stays happy, but it has to be a partnership similar to this.
It has to be someone who is on the same level as Davis who can take some of the regular-season burden off. And spoiler alert: there are not many players that are on the same level as Anthony Davis.
Talent-wise he can absolutely be the best player on a title-contending team. His health is the most concerning factor and mix that with the lack of success in New Orleans despite having some quality teams and one wonders how far AD could really take the Lakers without LeBron James on his side.
Is it time to punt on Anthony Davis for the future? Not at all. But it might be time to stop considering him as the guy once LeBron walks away.