There is no denying that Anthony Davis is one of the most dominant players in the NBA. When Davis is healthy, the Los Angeles Lakers are a completely different basketball team that can be a nightmare to match up against in a playoff series.
Davis probably finds himself on the outside looking in when it comes to being a top-10 player in the sport simply because of how loaded the NBA is. But it can be easier to game plan against someone like Luka Doncic in a playoff series than it is to game plan against AD. Especially when you also have to worry about LeBron James.
The one thing the Lakers haven't quite figured out since the 2020 championship season is pairing Davis next to another big man. In 2020, the Lakers just needed a rim protector that could rough up Nikola Jokic a bit in the Western Conference Finals. That is what Dwight Howard was.
Since then, though, the center position has been a revolving door and that revolving door will likely continue as Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes are not great fits. Rob Pelinka and the front office cannot give up on trying to find the right big man to pair next to Anthony Davis.
Lakers have a perfect running mate for Anthony Davis on the trade market
On paper, the perfect running mate for Davis is someone who can space the floor offensively (like Wood) but is not a complete zero on the defensive end (like Hayes). If you could combine the two centers the Lakers currently have then they may have something special.
Los Angeles can do close to that on the trade market, though. The Utah Jazz are preparing to sell off their trade assets and that opens an intriguing door for LA. On the following pages, we will break down the trade to get AD a running mate as well as hand out grades for both teams.