It was the worst-kept secret in the NBA. Throughout his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis wanted Rob Pelinka to acquire a center so that he could spend more minutes at power forward. It was requested privately, reported to the masses, and ultimately expressed directly by Davis in an interview.
The good news is that Pelinka finally granted Davis' wish by giving him a new center to play with: Deandre Ayton. The bad news is that Davis no longer plays for the Lakers. It's the ultimate slap in the face.
Davis' desire for the Lakers to acquire a center was rooted in the fact that he helped them win their only championship since 2010 by playing significant minutes at the 4. Los Angeles had the likes of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee playing collectively big minutes at the 5, which allowed Davis to endure less wear-and-tear down low and play his preferred style on both ends of the floor.
The Washington Wizards appear to be aware of Davis' desire to play the 4. Unlike Los Angeles, they answered the call by completing a trade with the Lakers to bring Ayton into the fold.
Just in: The Los Angeles Lakers are trading Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards for Jaden Hardy and two Wizards second-round picks in 2031 and 2032, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/bAEtSFpTNi
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 3, 2026
With Ayton and Alex Sarr, the Wizards have two centers who can take pressure off of Davis. If only Pelinka provided this type of help when he still had the future Hall of Famer on the team.
Rob Pelinka gave Anthony Davis a center—over a year too late
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported in 2023 that Davis had "made it clear" that he wanted the Lakers to acquire a center so that he could spend less time at the 5 during the regular season. The next two years consisted of radio silence from the front office and persistent reminders from Davis.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until he was off of the roster that the Lakers finally took action—both to find their own center and to give Davis one of his own.
Prior to trading Ayton to Washington to play with Davis, the Lakers signed center Walker Kessler. It was a direct response to Luka Doncic—whom Los Angeles traded Davis to acquire—asking Pelinka to acquire an, "A-list center."
Whether fair or foul, it's now been perceived as Pelinka adhering to the requests of his current franchise player after refusing to accommodate Davis.
Perhaps it's healthiest for everyone involved to just move on and accept that the past can't be changed. For Davis, one can only hope that he's supported in the future in ways he may not feel he'd been helped in the past. For the Lakers, they must learn from their mistakes—and appear to be doing so.
One simply can't help but feel as though Pelinka trading a center to play alongside Davis after years of ignoring his requests was something of a slap in the face.
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