Anthony Davis Discussion: Thanks For The Ring AD!!!

Yeah. I don't know if trading him is the right call (it might be), but if he has another season next year of 45-50 games, then we have to see if we can get something for him. Sure, it won't be much if he has that type of season, but even if it's just some picks and a promising young talent, that's better than having to lock him up long term since we have nothing else thereby extending our mediocrity.

 

Because he is so injury prone, even IF the Lakers and LeBron work things out and get together with a plan to make moves to get into contention next season, I still have no confidence in that. It’s the main reason you don’t see me complaining they didn’t trade Russ, because this season is a wrap without AD anyway.

He got hurt in the middle of his first season here, and as a positive side effect of the season being postponed, he was able to get healthy for the playoffs. Then by the end of the finals he was hurting again, kinda dragging around on one leg, but fortunately we still won. Then last season he got hurt again, came back, got hurt in the first round, season is a wrap. This season, hurt again, came back great, now hurt again. Why would I have any confidence at this point that this pattern won’t continue? I would love for it to not, but I just can’t see it.

If it were up to me, and I’m not saying at all that I am right, because it’s a huge gamble, but I’d trade him this off-season. Even if LeBron stays, I trade him for the absolute best things I can get, try to make one last run at it with LeBron and whatever can be had for AD and Russ. I see our run as-is with this core as over, I’m not waiting until AD is further damaged goods and his value is zero, I’m moving him now while we can get something. None of this is going to happen, but I sure wish it would, because I’m super fearful that 2 years from now we are going to be screwed, LeBron will be gone, and our cupboard will be entirely empty.

 

LeBron is 37 years old and in year 19 of his career, having gone to like 10 NBA finals and multiple team USA events. AD is 28 and in his 10th NBA season. That’s not a comparison, it’s not, it’s silly. If you can legitimately look at the case I just laid out above for AD proving over the 3 years he’s been here to not be able to stay healthy and not agree, I really don’t know what else to say. He played 62 games his first year, I’m guessing they add the 5 or whatever it was bubble games to that after a looooong break, so really it’s in the 50’s. He played 36 last season, in a shortened but still 72 game season, and he sits at 37 played this season and will be out for probably 5 or 6 more weeks if he even returns ar all… I don’t really see the point in denying the obvious. I’m not saying he sucks, I’m not saying I hate him lol, I’m saying he cannot stop getting injured. That’s not really debatable right now.

 

Mysterious origin? Everyone knows it came from that play when he ran into being almost 40.

 

The only good think here is that he shaved off nearly two weeks off that injury and we did not need to play any games due to All-star break. But even when he comes back, he's not going to help us much this season.

 

I said we should make another run with LeBron? I recall saying I’d trade him this off-season above trying another run. We don’t have the assets to make this a title team, only if AD could stay healthy, but he can’t. If he could I could see better minimum signings and whatever we could get for Russ, THT, and the multiple picks we could trade then possibly being able to turn this around. The latest AD injury has cemented in my mind that he cannot be depended on though.

So no, I wouldn’t try to make a run with LeBron next year. Maybe I said that’s likely what the FO does because they’d “look foolish” trading away these stars, but it’s not what I’d do, unless you could net another more dependable if less talented star caliber player plus a solid role player or 2 and for AD. I do believe LeBron doesn’t actually want to leave the Lakers, but this scenario with AD getting injured and him having to carry us at 38 will play out again next season at some point, and that’s scary, another wasted year of his career. I don’t like Russ here, but even still the one thing he HAS been is durable, even if what he’s given is hasn’t been great he’s still playing and giving us consistent minutes. If I were LeBron I’d be looking to someone else to hitch my last year here to, his face on the bench that name AD went down, you can say it was meditation, but man it also looked like “f***, not again, here we go, this season is done”.