Anthony Davis Trade Possibilities Considered ‘Plan B’ for Lakers?

With the losses mounting and the Lakers seemingly headed back to nowhere, there may be a reason for them to make a bold move.

And other than LeBron James, there may be no bolder move than looking into a trade centered on power forward Anthony Davis.

Granted, the Lakers’ first priority, when it comes to potential trades, is moving point guard Russell Westbrook. They have been trying since February, clearly to no avail. But by all accounts, they will try again.

If that continues to fail, though, they may try to make a splash elsewhere, Bill Simmons of The Ringer suggested on a recent podcast (via RealGM).

“So, the Lakers lost again today,” Simmons said following Sunday’s home loss to the Cavaliers. “There’s some buzz, some buzzing that AD might be available. That that’s a Plan B. Because the Westbrook trade, or whatever they think they can get for Westbrook and whether you want to give up future assets, maybe that doesn’t even make sense because what are you getting if you’re the Lakers?”

Davis, of course, has a reputation for being injury prone. But when healthy, he rivals James as the Lakers’ biggest reason for hope. He’s definitely the main player when it comes to LA’s future. 

Interestingly, several sources told Hoops Wire this past offseason that the Lakers’ best chances to improve the team would be to stop trying to move Westbrook, and start shopping Davis. It would be Davis, after all, who would bring the best return.

For now, most rival teams haven’t been willing to seriously engage on a Westbrook trade — especially if the Lakers don’t include their next two trade-eligible first-round picks (2027 and ’29).

But even Westbrook and the picks may not offer a significant return to make much of a difference this season.

So while it seems like a long shot that Davis is dealt, at this point, the Lakers may want to consider it. They don’t look much different than Davis’ Pelicans teams of the past at the moment, and maybe worse.

There might be worse things than at least looking into the idea of seeing what you could get in return. Right now, the Lakers are proving they’re younger than they were last season, but clearly not any better.