Anthony Davis is basically responsible for the Los Angeles Lakers reaching the Western Conference Finals. If it were not for him, the Lakers would not even make the postseason. The team was struggling because of a lack of balance and plenty of injury concerns. Clearly, they had a very poor start to the tournament. It was until the Lakers front office made some valuable trades before the February deadline.
As a result, the Lakers’ squad looked balanced and much better after the February trade deadline. But in the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers front office has to arrange a roster for the next season as well as for the future. The major problem with the Lakers is their cap space. Due to the top two stars – LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers do not have much cap space. Hence, trading either of them would benefit the team by buying more players. But whom will the lakers let go? James or Davis!
NBA Analyst Suggests The Lakers To Not Extend AD’s Contract
Moreover, an NBA analyst, Kendrick Perkins, speaking at the Get Up program on ESPN, suggested the Lakers should trade Anthony Davis. In fact, Anthony Davis is eligible for a contract extension that is worth $170 million for almost three years. But NBA analyst, Mr. Perkins feels Anthony Davis has not been healthy for over three years. In fact, Kendrick Perkins is right on the money. AD has not been able to play more than 72 games in a season ever in his career. Neither has he played the whole 48 minutes of a game ever. Moreover, Anthony Davis had missed twenty games on the trot due to a stress injury since last December.
.@KendrickPerkins doesn't think the Lakers should extend Anthony Davis 👀
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 5, 2023
"We haven't seen a healthy Anthony Davis in, what, three or four years? You have to start asking yourself if you're the front office … Can you trust AD and hand him the keys to the car?" pic.twitter.com/MpanORzy4h
On top of that, when he did return to the lineup, the head coach was so worried about AD that he made a rule to protect his feet. Coach Darvin Ham said that Anthony Davis would not play back-to-back games not to put too much stress on his feet. That is the reason why Kendrick Perkins says, “Health matters.” He might be right about AD being a hazard due to his weak health for the team and its management. Moreover, fans have been wondering the same about AD’s health. If he is reliable enough to depend on him for the future of the franchise.
Without Anthony Davis The Lakers Would Not Make The Postseason
The Los Angeles Lakers were on their way to turn things around when key players started missing out on games on the trot. Later, LeBron James hurt his right foot in a game against Dallas Mavericks on February 26. Soon after, the team announced LeBron James would miss games for several weeks. He did for almost a month. If it was not for Anthony Davis, then no one else could have led the Los Angeles Lakers and showed the new roster a way to the playoffs.
He, along with a couple of young guns like D’Angelo Russell, who joined via the February trade, and Austin Reaves, played major supporting roles to Anthony Davis. But coming to the fag end of the regular season, LeBron James joined the lineup. Then the 2019-20 championship-winning duo led the Lakers to yet another conference final. Unfortunately, they could not go any further.