Lakers, Anthony Davis agree to NBA's richest annual extension

3 years for a total of $186 million.  He still has 2 years remaining under his current contract for $83.8 million.

His new deal, when it kicks in, will average $62 million per.

AD if often accused of not being available but he has actually played in 660 regular season games out of 892 or 73%.  But before you nod your head a look at his 4 years with the Lakers reveals that he has only played in a total of 194 out of 318 games or 61%.

Davis is 30 years old and it appears that the wear and tear  of the NBA projects that he will not be playing in around 40% of games.

Bill Russell once said that greatness  is tied to availability.

https://us.yahoo.com/sports/plaschke-lakers-hand-franchise-anthony-120002805.html



Lakers hand the franchise to Anthony Davis, and the future feels fragile


Bill Plaschke

Sat, August 5, 2023 at 5:00 AM PDT



The Lakers are now officially Anthony Davis’ team.

Gasp.

The Lakers just anointed Anthony Davis as their cornerstone for the next five seasons.

Lord almighty.

The Lakers made the completely expected move at the first possible moment Friday in giving Davis the maximum contract extension for the maximum amount of money.

All of which leads to maximum angst.

Hold your breath. Cover your eyes. Cross your fingers.

They just handed the franchise to a guy who often has been too brittle to hold it. They just tied their future to an anchor that has been known to drift. They just ensured that the face of their team is going to be … a wince?

Whether you like it or not, the Lakers had to do this. After the way he helped power them to the Western Conference finals last season, after they essentially brought back everybody to make a serious run next season, they had to lock him down quickly and cleanly.

This is about maintaining momentum. This is about fostering stability. This is about chasing a title while LeBron James still is outracing time. This is about winning now.

If they had not given Davis the extension, he could have been a lame duck next season — no pun intended — and it could have been messy. There could have been uncertainty. There could have been unsettling questions. Is he playing hard enough? Is he protecting himself for free agency?

If they offered him less than the three-year, $186-million maximum extension that he received — that’s $62 million a season! — it also could have been ugly. Would he feel insulted? Would he be openly unhappy? A trade demand waiting to happen?

By giving him the richest annual contract in NBA history, the Lakers solidified their present and cemented their future and, hey, did you see the way Davis dominated Memphis and Golden State in the playoffs? With Davis and James back on board for at least another year together, don’t you think the Lakers will be one of the favorites to unseat Denver?

But, still, sigh …

This is a guy who missed an average of 35 games in the last three seasons with the Lakers. That means he spent nearly 41% of his time off the court. The only exception was the COVID-shutdown season, when the Lakers won a title not coincidentally because Davis had several months of extra rest.

This is a guy who even when he plays appears hurt. At some point in seemingly every game he is writhing on the court under the basket, his lanky frame easily battered by the NBA bruisers. Fans aren’t the only ones who roll their eyes when this happens. There have been countless memes devoted to James’ resigned body language when he’s watching the struggles of his fragile wingman.

Davis' health is a constant distraction. His strength is a constant worry. His fitness commitment is a constant question.

And, oh yeah, this is a guy who will be 35 when this extension ends.

Until he roared back from his latest foot injury to stay on the court for last spring’s playoff push and ensuing postseason madness — Davis led the NBA in rebounds and blocks in the postseason — there was even much talk in town of trading him this summer. He was that shaky. He was that unpopular.


And even when he’s on a dominating roll and staying healthy as he did last spring, he still sometimes disappears

First round, Memphis, Games 2 and 4, he was a combined eight for 27 from the field.

Second round, Golden State, Game 2, he was five for 11 with only seven rebounds.

Western Conference finals, Denver, Games 2 and 4, he was a combined 10 for 30.

Only one of those five games was a Lakers victory. His inconsistency became so predictable, the buzz was that Davis had settled into the role of being a great player only every other game, a trend for which there was no reasonable explanation.

“I just look at it as, I miss shots,” he frustratingly told reporters.

He added, "I go out and try to compete to the best of my ability every night, to help the team win and sometimes it doesn't work out that way when we win, but I know, especially at this time of the year, I leave it all out on the floor and that's all I can do."

You know who just left it all out on the floor? The Lakers, that’s who.

Jeanie Buss just made a huge investment. Rob Pelinka just handed out a historic contract. An organization known for having undying faith in its superstars has stuck its neck out again, all for a player with so much potential yet with so much still to prove.

It’s payback time. Davis owes the Lakers his best focus. He owes the Lakers his best fitness. He owes the Lakers his constant presence on the court for the next five seasons, and if he can manage that, this thing could work.

After all, in Davis’ only two Lakers seasons in which he finished healthy, the team won a championship and advanced to the conference finals.

Then again, in the two seasons he finished injured, the Lakers failed to make the playoffs and were knocked out in the first round.

One can look at this contract extension like a glass half full, or a glass half empty, but it’s really all about the actual glass.

It can be stunningly beautiful. It also is easily breakable.


Bob
MY NOTE:  Bill Blatschke is one of the LA Times' regular Lakers beat writers.  He's their equivalent of Gary Washburn.

Davis has played 194 games in LA in 4 seasons.  That's 48.5 games/season.  You know how worried we all are about The Time Lord's health and availability?  He's played 209 games in 5 seasons, 41.8 games/season.  RWill's career availability is worse, in part because of his first two years where he never got his knee issues straightened out surgically, BUT he's not getting the biggest contract in the NBA.  In the last 3 years he has played in 148 games, 49.3 games/season.  AD has played in only 132 games in the last 3 seasons, only 44 games/season.  I know, I'm burying you with stats but the point I'm trying to make, and back up, is that as questionable RWill's availability has been over his career he has played more than AD in the last 3 years.  Imagine the Celtics giving Jaylen his SuperMax contract even though he only averaged 44 games/season over the last three!!  RWill is not the cornerstone of our franchise like AD will be when LeBron retires.  In fact, he's been coming off the bench and now might be permanently coming off the bench because we've got Z and Al in front of him.  I know AD's offense is much better than RWill's, but only if/when he's on the court and, based upon the three most recent seasons he's not on the court even as much as the player we worried about so much we got Porzingis to sleep easier.  

I wonder how much of this contract extension has to do with LeBron's son having a heart attack?  I know, wtf does that have to do with AD?  Well, suppose they thought they could talk LeBron into sticking around for another year or two after next year by dangling the bait of drafting his son?  We all know how much LeBron wants to play with him in the NBA (or anywhere, he once said).   With his son's basketball future becoming highly unlikely (what team would take a chance on a prospect with known cardiac weaknesses?) maybe LeBron's not thinking about playing after his contract ends anymore.  Remember him talking about maybe foregoing his final contract year and retiring after the Lakers' early playoff exit?  That was just frustration and disappointment talking, but now that he just had a figurative heart attack after his son had an actual one?  That's the type of stuff that makes you stop and reassess your priorities, especially if one of your remaining priorities was to play with a son that may never play basketball again. That makes locking up AD long-term even more important.

How's that for weaving a ridiculous conspiracy theory? LOL.

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AD still has 2 years remaining on his current contract so I am a bit surprised that the Lakers extended him now.  I am sure that his high powered agent was pushing for the deal.

I think LJ will stay in LA.  He has business related reasons and multiple residences there. 

We have not seen an update on what caused his son's cardiac  arrest.  Therefore we cannot definitively declare that his basketball career is over.

If it is over I do not think it would impact James' decision to stay with LAL.  One of his other goals has to be winning a 5th ring to tie what Kobe accomplished.

Let's get this right.  The key phrase in the whole diatribe above is in the second main paragraph where it says "....helped powered them TO the Western Conference finals last season."  

Helped? Yes. Powered them?  Not really when you consider the severely short-handed competition they faced in those two opening rounds.   Five of us from this site could have suited up and put together a better run and competitive team to face the Lakers than those first two round teams.  

TO the Western Conference Finals?  Yes, but that's about it.  Once they arrived there they simply played like they were happy to be there against a far superior team they would have faced in the first round had all the players showed up and would have been subsequently gentlemanly swept or worse.  They got VERY lucky with the draw but when put up against a formidable team with all its pieces in place and folded up like cheap suit, which accurately describes their whole season.  

Call it sour grapes or I Hate The Lakers, go right ahead.  Interestingly enough, AD is in the EXACT SAME SITUATION our two boys are in this upcoming season.  It's SHOWTIME not only in LA but more so in Boston.  A repeat JB G7 performance at home in the ECF this upcoming season will result in an immediate big trade in the subsequent off-season.  Anything short of those two going apeshit fully operational death star, bringing the supporting cast right along with them and AT THE VERY LEAST making it to the Finals and it's curtains.  The nuclear option.  If we don't get it done this year, it just ain't ever gonna work.  According to Fred Sanford, this movie is too long.    

It will be over.  Gotta show Brad something.

For the Lakers, this is the equivalent of moving all-in with a semi-bluff.  For the rest of us, it's time to record all the Lakers games and get our popcorn, Twizzlers, grab a Coke and a smile and shut...well, barring Eddie Murphy doing an impression of Richard Pryor doing an impression of Bill Cosby (brilliant, BTW), it should be yet another LA Implosion of massive proportions.  

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