The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to shake up the roster before the NBA trade deadline after an extremely disappointing first half of the season. While the Lakers’ moves are limiting, the front office is certainly going to try and make add some impactful players.
One thing that the team is certainly not going to do is trade Anthony Davis. While it is okay to question Davis’s long-term ability as a franchise cornerstone because of his injury history, trading him this season would make absolutely no sense.
Yet still, different outlets are proposing various Anthony Davis trades. The trade with the Boston Celtics that circled the internet made no sense and had the Lakers trading AD for Jaylen Brown. That trade at least saw the Lakers getting an all-star-caliber player in return. Some outlets believe that the Lakers should give up and trade Davis for picks and marginal assets.
Jack Simone of NBA Analysis Network proposed a trade with the Houston Rockets for Anthony Davis. This trade sees Davis going to Houston for the package of Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, Daniel Theis, Jae’sean Tate and three future first-round picks.
The Los Angeles Lakers would block the Houston Rockets’ number if they called about this Anthony Davis trade.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in a position to contend for a championship, not to trade Anthony Davis for 75 cents on the dollar and start a rebuild. Sure, those picks are enticing, but the Lakers would be punting on any chance to contend for a championship.
Simone argues that the Lakers would get good depth around LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. You know what is better than good depth? Having someone who is a top-10 player when he is healthy playing next to LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Simone then follows up by saying that the Lakers could use those lucrative Houston picks and “combine with Talen Horton-Tucker’s contract, and they could bring back some seriously impactful players”. So the Lakers are trading Anthony Davis for picks… only to then flip those picks for other players?
Why not just keep Davis? There is zero percent chance that the Lakers would land a star more impactful than Davis with those picks. At best they would get someone of Jaylen Brown’s caliber and at that rate, they might as well do the Boston Celtics trade (no, no they shouldn’t).
Any Laker fan who may have seen this trade on social media does not need to worry. The Lakers would never consider this offer as it makes absolutely no sense for the team.