The Lakers and star forward/center Anthony Davis have agreed to a three-year contract extension worth $186 million, agent Rich Paul told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The deal is the largest extension in NBA history, Wojnarowski noted.
Davis initially signed a five-year maximum-salary contract in December 2020. Normally, players who sign five-year contracts have to wait three full calendar years before becoming eligible for an extension.
But the COVID pandemic caused schedule irregularities during the 2020 offseason, offering Davis a contract loophole of sorts and making him eligible for an extension as of Friday.
Prior to the extension, he had two years left on his current deal — at $40.6 million next season, with an early termination option of $43.2 million for 2024-25.
Davis had a day before the regular season in October to agree to an extension. If he hadn’t agreed to one by then, he and the Lakers would’ve needed to wait until next summer.
The concern with Davis, of course, is his ability to stay on the court — as he’s battled injuries for much of the last three seasons. But when healthy, he remains one of the league’s top two-way players.
Davis, 30, averaged 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds, shooting 56 percent from the field in 56 regular-season games last season.
BREAKING: Lakers star Anthony Davis has agreed on a three-year $186M max extension, tying him to franchise thru 2028 for total of $270M-plus, @KlutchSports CEO Rich Paul tells ESPN. Davis lands richest annual extension in NBA history at $62M. pic.twitter.com/bf9kWgD7uz
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 4, 2023
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