Anthony Davis Extends with Lakers

[TylersLakers]

Huge news.

Here's how his salary breaks out (assuming 10% raises):

23-24 $40.6M
24-25 $43.2M
25-26 $57.6M (if the cap increases 10% each year over the next 2)
26-27 $62.2M (if the cap increase)
27-28 $66.8M (if the cap incrases)

If LeBron leaves after this year, having him at $43M with a cap close to $170M will be a crazy bargain. Add in Austin Reaves' salary and we're cooking.

[Slava]

Pelinka did as well as could be done this summer.

[TyCobb]

Great move. I really hope the Lakers move Russell for two or three rotation players this season otherwise this man is going to get alot of wear and tear this year due to no depth.

[TheHartBreakKid]

I'm sure some people will still find a way to complain, with the focus of their complaints being on how many games he misses/will miss, and how the last playoffs was a great example of the fact that he isn't the "alpha" on a championship team, etc etc.

But I think this is a great deal and great news for the franchise, both for winning now and moving forward.

Why?
1. We are obviously committed to trying our best to win a championship next year. AD had an ETO option on his contract for 24-25, and his future status, along with his dedication, team chemistry, and his willingness to play through injuries would substantially affect the team if we are focusing on next year. His ETO essentially would make it impossible to find a trade where the lakers can compete, with the other team still being desirable enough for AD to be ok with the trade. Even with his injuries and questionable performance against Denver, AD would still, be far, be better for a contender than any potential trade we could have done.
2. With Bronny's career up in the air, there is no reason to think that Lebron won't just finish out his contract and potentially his career with the Lakers. Barring some unexpected acceleration to his decline, This team could still compete during the 24-25 year.
3. Most importantlyAD gives us the best chance to attract stars for the post-Lebron era. [/b];

Stars want to play with other stars. They especially want to player with other Stars who are not a threat to them as the best player of the team. Assuming his health doesn't go downhill dramatically, even a 60game a season 32 year old AD is still appealing to attract talent. I know, I know, some may point to the Raptors, Bucks, and Nuggets to show that teams necessary don't need 2 stars to win in today's NBA. And sure, that's true, but you still need that one star, and other than a full blown lenghty, uncertain, draft rebuild, the Lakers would have no means of landing that player when Lebron is gone.

4. Which leads me to my last point; Giannis and Luka are potential FA targets in summer 2025 and summer 2026 respectively, with each having a player option/ETO to either enter free agency, or to force a lobsided trade. AD under contract, assuming he doesn't suffer a career altering injury is still absolutely a positive asset to attract those guys, even if he continues to miss games with nagging injuries.




The reality of it is that the Lakers will never fully rebuild through the draft, despite how much some of our fans remain obsessed with homegrown talent and "lifelong Lakers". What happened in 13-18 was an anomaly, and unlikely scenario with a million things having to go right (or wrong) for the Lakers to actually build through the draft. And even then, we saw how that experimented ended.

And good news for that group of always complaining "traditional" fans; The Lakers still have almost all of their future first round picks. If Lebron books and AD becomes this large useless contract, well then that would be an ideal tanking situation for years 3-5 of this new contract.

[LAKESHOW]

NECESSITY. We now have a guaranteed anchor in the back of our defense , and a 25pt getter for thr rest of his career

[Hans1984]

Should have let him go. He's not even worth half the money given hes always injured.

[stan francisco]

Excellent! We just locked down one of the best three defensive big men in the league for the next five years.

His defense is historically impactful, like having Bill Russell anchoring the paint. It might be that his last 50pt game was when he played with Rondo but who cares, given his excellent defense.

The only concern is Ham’s self discipline. AD’s physique might not handle 45MPG x 82 at C. Whose does?

We need a backup or a companion C for AD. Steven Adams or someone who can hold their own on defense.

[tamaraw08]

Not going to lie, I whined when Jim Buss gave that 48 mil to Kobe because it ate up their cap space and limited them to signing good free agents but later on realized that other superstars noticed how the Lakers took care of thier players. Years later Lebron came then AD.
His ability to stay healthy and play 60 games remain a concern for me. He has proven to be a great force on defense when he’s playing but his inability to hit perimeter shots limits his effectiveness on offense especially on 4th quarters.

[danfantastk32]

His ability to stay healthy and play 60 games remain a concern for me. He has proven to be a great force on defense when he’s playing but his inability to hit perimeter shots limits his effectiveness on offense especially on 4th quarters.

Well the good news is that history has shown that oft-injured players tend to make a miraculous change once they hit 30, and usually go the next 3 or 4 years injury free! Especially bigs.

This was a mistake, and an obvious one at that. He earned the name "street clothes". I didn't give it to him. And that was in his middle twenties. God only knows what his thirties are gonna look like. But I guess we'll all get to watch it first-hand. When Lebron leaves/retires. and the big not so secret - secret in the NBA is that nobody wants to come here, cause this guy can't be relied on to hold it together long enough to make a playoff run....it'll be a long dry spell.

I defended the Kobe contract when it happened. I was pissed about it, and I thought that the last contract he had gotten was already his "thank you" contract. But I saw the wisdom in it, and I predicted it would pay dividends down the road. I'm not patting myself on the back, but just pointing out that I get it, and I'm on board with the "concept". But AD isn't a franchise player....Lebron is(was). And it should be pointed out that while everyone admired the optics of what we did for Kobe....they kinda did it from afar, didn't they? Nice as is was.....everyone knew Kobe was done those last couple years, and absolutely NOBODY wanted anything to do with our team.

Dumb mistake. And a frustrating "you guys still aren't getting it" one from the front office again. I put this up there with the Westbrick signing, in that it's so obviously going to not go well, and you had so many signs pointing to such, that you have to wonder if these guys have any business running things.

My only outside hope, is that this locks him long-term...and that a trade is looming. Perhaps he goes to Portland to pair with Lillard, and we get lots of goodies back? But if this is the case, then it needs to be done soon. Not in a year. His value is high NOW.

[hoosierdaddy34]

He will be more productive and account for more wins in 60 games than most of these dudes signing for 200…300 million will in 75 games.

He is still a top 10 player in the nba when healthy, maybe even top 5.

He’s still one of the very few players capable of pushing your team into the finals.

He’s still a dude that it takes another top 5 or 6 player in the league on an opponent to beat.

He’s an all-world defensive player, one of the 2 or 3 best in the playoffs. One of the few players in the league that can both protect the rim at an elite level AND be very very good guarding 20 feet from the basket.

Sabonis makes 217 million and he’s awful in the playoffs…are we really going to question AD’s value at this point?

It’s basic asset management that you don’t risk losing a guy like that. If you decide to go a different direction, a dude like AD is never going to have negative value so you can always move him for some other pieces.

Every smart team in the league locks these types of dudes up, only dumb ones drag it out and over think it and watch them walk out the door.

And finally…all the financial guys are saying just count on 10% raises in the salary cap through the end of the decade. People are freaking out about 65 million when he’s 35 and still could be quite good.

23-24 - 136 million
24-25 - 150 million
25-26 - 165 million
26-27 - 181 million
27-28 - 199 million

Are we really worried about him being an expiring contract making just 32% of the cap? That’s the big freak out? When we just saw how easy it was to move expiring Russell Westbrook making 39% of the cap?

[tamaraw08]

His ability to stay healthy and play 60 games remain a concern for me. He has proven to be a great force on defense when he’s playing but his inability to hit perimeter shots limits his effectiveness on offense especially on 4th quarters.

Well the good news is that history has shown that oft-injured players tend to make a miraculous change once they hit 30, and usually go the next 3 or 4 years injury free! Especially bigs.

This was a mistake, and an obvious one at that. He earned the name "street clothes". I didn't give it to him. And that was in his middle twenties. God only knows what his thirties are gonna look like. But I guess we'll all get to watch it first-hand. When Lebron leaves/retires. and the big not so secret - secret in the NBA is that nobody wants to come here, cause this guy can't be relied on to hold it together long enough to make a playoff run....it'll be a long dry spell.

I defended the Kobe contract when it happened. I was pissed about it, and I thought that the last contract he had gotten was already his "thank you" contract. But I saw the wisdom in it, and I predicted it would pay dividends down the road. I'm not patting myself on the back, but just pointing out that I get it, and I'm on board with the "concept". But AD isn't a franchise player....Lebron is(was). And it should be pointed out that while everyone admired the optics of what we did for Kobe....they kinda did it from afar, didn't they? Nice as is was.....everyone knew Kobe was done those last couple years, and absolutely NOBODY wanted anything to do with our team.

Dumb mistake. And a frustrating "you guys still aren't getting it" one from the front office again. I put this up there with the Westbrick signing, in that it's so obviously going to not go well, and you had so many signs pointing to such, that you have to wonder if these guys have any business running things.

My only outside hope, is that this locks him long-term...and that a trade is looming. Perhaps he goes to Portland to pair with Lillard, and we get lots of goodies back? But if this is the case, then it needs to be done soon. Not in a year. His value is high NOW.

Im guessing they, esp Jeannie were traumatized from being rejected twice by La Marcus Aldridge that locking up a Superstar who probably will help sell tickets is the only option.
AD may not play more than 55 games but the Lakers’ chances of signing another Superstar is better with him than having an empty cupboard.

[TheHartBreakKid]

His ability to stay healthy and play 60 games remain a concern for me. He has proven to be a great force on defense when he’s playing but his inability to hit perimeter shots limits his effectiveness on offense especially on 4th quarters.

Well the good news is that history has shown that oft-injured players tend to make a miraculous change once they hit 30, and usually go the next 3 or 4 years injury free! Especially bigs.

This was a mistake, and an obvious one at that. He earned the name "street clothes". I didn't give it to him. And that was in his middle twenties. God only knows what his thirties are gonna look like. But I guess we'll all get to watch it first-hand. When Lebron leaves/retires. and the big not so secret - secret in the NBA is that nobody wants to come here, cause this guy can't be relied on to hold it together long enough to make a playoff run....it'll be a long dry spell.

I defended the Kobe contract when it happened. I was pissed about it, and I thought that the last contract he had gotten was already his "thank you" contract. But I saw the wisdom in it, and I predicted it would pay dividends down the road. I'm not patting myself on the back, but just pointing out that I get it, and I'm on board with the "concept". But AD isn't a franchise player....Lebron is(was). And it should be pointed out that while everyone admired the optics of what we did for Kobe....they kinda did it from afar, didn't they? Nice as is was.....everyone knew Kobe was done those last couple years, and absolutely NOBODY wanted anything to do with our team.

Dumb mistake. And a frustrating "you guys still aren't getting it" one from the front office again. I put this up there with the Westbrick signing, in that it's so obviously going to not go well, and you had so many signs pointing to such, that you have to wonder if these guys have any business running things.

My only outside hope, is that this locks him long-term...and that a trade is looming. Perhaps he goes to Portland to pair with Lillard, and we get lots of goodies back? But if this is the case, then it needs to be done soon. Not in a year. His value is high NOW.

His value is higher today with this extension than it was 2 days ago, so it seems like "you guys are still not getting it"

This is far from a "Thank you Contract". It's the right basketball decision.

Even if you are on team "trade AD", you should support this move because come Trade Deadline AD locked up long term is way easier to move, and logically should get a better return vs 2 days ago AD.

I'm uncertain about where AD stands in the future plans, but I have no doubt this was the best GM move in this situation.

[MAMBAEMD]

This is a great move.
Our chances of winning are much higher with AD than without AD.

I think this is a solid basketball decision, since AD is still arguably a top 10 player in the league, but it is also a huge message to star and superstar level players around the league that the Lakers pay their players very well.

When LBJ retires in the next few years, likely before AD's contract runs out, other stars are going to want to play with a big who is a game-changer on D and is a selfless, efficient offensive player.

True that his health makes this a gamble, but this is a risk that I'd take any day, and I suspect 99% of the GMs around the league would do the same thing.

[LAKESHOW]

Not going to lie, I whined when Jim Buss gave that 48 mil to Kobe because it ate up their cap space and limited them to signing good free agents but later on realized that other superstars noticed how the Lakers took care of thier players. Years later Lebron came then AD.
His ability to stay healthy and play 60 games remain a concern for me. He has proven to be a great force on defense when he’s playing but his inability to hit perimeter shots limits his effectiveness on offense especially on 4th quarters.

Exactly. Do I have Injury concerns? Heck yeah. But if we don't pay Kobe, Bron, AD. Guess what will happen when ADand brons time is over? The Top notch elite players around the league notice and recognize those things. Clippers for years were known as cheap. But pay AD and retain a top player, and it's a draw for the next star player to see and wanna be a part of a quality organization

[danfantastk32]

Even if you are on team "trade AD", you should support this move because come Trade Deadline AD locked up long term is way easier to move, and logically should get a better return vs 2 days ago AD.

If the plan is to lock him up long term, and then trade him....then this was a brilliant piece of work.
If the plan is to lock him up, move Lebron, and get a younger star....then I don't love it, but I'm willing to see what they got.

But if the plan is to go to war next season (or two) with the same squad, and then get a new partner for AD when Lebron finally does hang them up, then this will be a disaster.

[tamaraw08]

Even if you are on team "trade AD", you should support this move because come Trade Deadline AD locked up long term is way easier to move, and logically should get a better return vs 2 days ago AD.

If the plan is to lock him up long term, and then trade him....then this was a brilliant piece of work.
If the plan is to lock him up, move Lebron, and get a younger star....then I don't love it, but I'm willing to see what they got.

But if the plan is to go to war next season (or two) with the same squad, and then get a new partner for AD when Lebron finally does hang them up, then this will be a disaster.

In a perfect Laker world, you trade both for 2 young reliable Superstars but AD Playing 70 games is more likely to happen than that scenario.
Getting a young reliable superstar post Lebron to partner with AD is not a complete disaster IMO, you know what is?
It’s letting AD walk for nothing and no good Free agent is willing to come here because we didn’t want to pay Davis after seeing him play hard to give us a championship.

[danfantastk32]

Getting a young reliable superstar post Lebron to partner with AD is not a complete disaster IMO

Well....Your omitting the key word here: Planning. I said 'if your plan is to get another star once Lebron retires....'

Because whether you want to face the reality or not....AD has had quite the injury-laden career so far. And hitting 30 ain't gonna do anything but make it worse. So if the plan here is to hope AD keeps his "value" for a couple years, and then use him to entice a young star to pair with him, its going to be a disaster. Cause AD ain't gonna hold up his end of the bargain. Would it be nice? Sure. WILL it be nice? Nah. We're gonna have the one scenario worse than letting him walk: Watching him ride the pine the bulk of his $180m dollar contract....unable to move him.....and unable to move forward.

The time to ship this guy out is now. The feelings are good around the league with him right now. He still has his solid D. He had a really solid (you can use the word Great) post-season. But we all know what's coming. Let someone else "forget" ....like we forgot the truth about Westbrick. Cause once he goes down with something else, and misses a good chunk of the season....you can kiss all that good vibes goodbye. And it won't come back. And what your stuck with at that point, is pretty much as worse-case as it gets.

Look, I like AD. I was a HUGE fan of getting him. He brought a title. When he plays, he's got incredible D....yada yada yada. All the good things people wanna say, I totally get it, and agree.

But this is business. The past don't lie. Like I said earlier post: I didn't give him the name street-clothes. He earned that sh**. Your sitting here with him, and he just had the post-season he just had. Now you've locked him up for a while, and that just might be the exact thing a guy like Luka, or Lillard...or whatever is looking for to stay committed. Whatever that scenario is....who cares? But make that move now. Get while the getting is good with this guy. Because we all KNOW what's around the corner.

Just like it was incredibly obvious to almost everyone that Westbrick was gonna be a sh++show, and that he wouldn't change...why would this be anything different?? Did AD start eating his Wheaties this offseason? Did he get metal bones? ....so why would anyone gamble that it's all gonna go better hitting his 30's? Thats crazy.

Doubled with the fact, that even if he did go all 82, and played quite well.....it still wouldnt be enough, given the current state of Lebron. So what are we doing with the guy? Why keep him? He's practically the only thing we have that we could get legit future pieces for. Anyone think we're really gonna be able to pawn D-Lo on to someone for something legit???? Come on.

AD answers a TON of questions for several teams out there. And that stock is about as high as it's gonna get right now. MOVE. Let them gamble on his body. I'm done with that.

[tamaraw08]

Getting a young reliable superstar post Lebron to partner with AD is not a complete disaster IMO

Well....Your omitting the key word here: Planning. I said 'if your plan is to get another star once Lebron retires....'



The time to ship this guy out is now. The feelings are good around the league with him right now. He still has his solid D. He had a really solid (you can use the word Great) post-season. But we all know what's coming. Let someone else "forget" ....like we forgot the truth about Westbrick. Cause once he goes down with something else, and misses a good chunk of the season....you can kiss all that good vibes goodbye. And it won't come back. And what your stuck with at that point, is pretty much as worse-case as it gets.

Look, I like AD. I was a HUGE fan of getting him. He brought a title. When he plays, he's got incredible D....yada yada yada. All the good things people wanna say, I totally get it, and agree.

But this is business. The past don't lie. Like I said earlier post: I didn't give him the name street-clothes. He earned that sh**. Your sitting here with him, and he just had the post-season he just had. Now you've locked him up for a while, and that just might be the exact thing a guy like Luka, or Lillard...or whatever is looking for to stay committed. Whatever that scenario is....who cares? But make that move now. Get while the getting is good with this guy. Because we all KNOW what's around the corner.



Doubled with the fact, that even if he did go all 82, and played quite well.....it still wouldnt be enough, given the current state of Lebron. So what are we doing with the guy? Why keep him? He's practically the only thing we have that we could get legit future pieces for. Anyone think we're really gonna be able to pawn D-Lo on to someone for something legit???? Come on.

AD answers a TON of questions for several teams out there. And that stock is about as high as it's gonna get right now. MOVE. Let them gamble on his body. I'm done with that.

You made great valid points, heck I cringe at the thought of him being the next Vlade Divac and Brian Grant(both guys barely played) for this team esp when he turns past 33 years old.
Again in a perfect Laker world, they can trade him right now for younger reliable superstars like Jokic or Giannis and Lebron for Luka or Tatum but let us be realistic now, you mentioned AD answers a TON of questions for SEVERAL teams but tell me now,
How many teams have actual Superstars who can answer and solve problems for the Lakers? And why would these teams give up their Superstars for a very fragile player like Davis?
And there's an issue of backlash. You ship this player to a place he hates, other superstars and their family would notice. When Boston traded the injured IT, other players took exception. AD's dad said publicly he hated Boston for their treatment of IT....
Again, I understand, it's not grand slam move. It's freaking scary but we don't know exactly if there are protections like what the Pelicans did for Zion where they don't pay Zion if he misses a ton of games...

[TylersLakers]

I'm sure some people will still find a way to complain, with the focus of their complaints being on how many games he misses/will miss, and how the last playoffs was a great example of the fact that he isn't the "alpha" on a championship team, etc etc.

But I think this is a great deal and great news for the franchise, both for winning now and moving forward.

Why?
1. We are obviously committed to trying our best to win a championship next year. AD had an ETO option on his contract for 24-25, and his future status, along with his dedication, team chemistry, and his willingness to play through injuries would substantially affect the team if we are focusing on next year. His ETO essentially would make it impossible to find a trade where the lakers can compete, with the other team still being desirable enough for AD to be ok with the trade. Even with his injuries and questionable performance against Denver, AD would still, be far, be better for a contender than any potential trade we could have done.
2. With Bronny's career up in the air, there is no reason to think that Lebron won't just finish out his contract and potentially his career with the Lakers. Barring some unexpected acceleration to his decline, This team could still compete during the 24-25 year.
3. Most importantlyAD gives us the best chance to attract stars for the post-Lebron era. [/b];

Stars want to play with other stars. They especially want to player with other Stars who are not a threat to them as the best player of the team. Assuming his health doesn't go downhill dramatically, even a 60game a season 32 year old AD is still appealing to attract talent. I know, I know, some may point to the Raptors, Bucks, and Nuggets to show that teams necessary don't need 2 stars to win in today's NBA. And sure, that's true, but you still need that one star, and other than a full blown lenghty, uncertain, draft rebuild, the Lakers would have no means of landing that player when Lebron is gone.

4. Which leads me to my last point; Giannis and Luka are potential FA targets in summer 2025 and summer 2026 respectively, with each having a player option/ETO to either enter free agency, or to force a lobsided trade. AD under contract, assuming he doesn't suffer a career altering injury is still absolutely a positive asset to attract those guys, even if he continues to miss games with nagging injuries.




The reality of it is that the Lakers will never fully rebuild through the draft, despite how much some of our fans remain obsessed with homegrown talent and "lifelong Lakers". What happened in 13-18 was an anomaly, and unlikely scenario with a million things having to go right (or wrong) for the Lakers to actually build through the draft. And even then, we saw how that experimented ended.

And good news for that group of always complaining "traditional" fans; The Lakers still have almost all of their future first round picks. If Lebron books and AD becomes this large useless contract, well then that would be an ideal tanking situation for years 3-5 of this new contract.

These are all great points.

1) This team wants to compete this year. To have the threat of AD even potentially leaving would’ve been something that came up in the media 100%.

2) He could’ve terminated the contract and basically his 3rd year salary on this current extension would’ve been his 1st year salary next season. Also at that point, we probably have to pony up a 5 year deal or lose him for nothing. This way, he still has another year at a relatively low salary cap percentage number and he comes off the books sooner.

3) And from AD’s perspective, it shows he wants to be here and doesn’t care about the drama. Yes, he could’ve got more money from the Lakers. He’s still getting an absolute boatload of money.

I think LeBron will leave after next year most likely, and we’ll have the following:

AD: $43M
D-Lo: $18.7M (player option)
Rui: $17M
Reaves: $13M
Vincent $11M
JHS: $3.9M
Lewis: $1.9M
Reddish and Hayes: $5M (player options)
Christie: RFA same as Reaves this year, so pencil him in for $13M

Salary: $136M. The salary cap will likely be $150M.

Plenty of flexibility to add max stars over the course of the next couple years.

[danfantastk32]

Again in a perfect Laker world, they can trade him right now for younger reliable superstars like Jokic or Giannis and Lebron for Luka or Tatum but let us be realistic now, you mentioned AD answers a TON of questions for SEVERAL teams but tell me now, How many teams have actual Superstars who can answer and solve problems for the Lakers? And why would these teams give up their Superstars for a very fragile player like Davis?

I have no dreams of getting Jokic or Giannis for Davis. I wouldn't even expect the tier down. This isn't the move I'm going for. I would trade him for a 1st rounder, and 2 2ndrounders....or something like that. I'd be willing to take on a 2-3 year bloated contract on top, if it then became 2 first rounders, and a 2nd...whatever the exact thing is doesn't totally matter. This begins the rebuild that is coming in the next year or two. I don't think Davis will lure a superstar here. I think in 2 years, he'll have had another bad injury, spent too much time riding the pine. And instead, he will be considered a negative. Even worse than a zero....since 60-some mil is tied up in a partner that you can't rely on. At this point...you certainly won't be able to move him. Just like stupid Westbrick....teams wanted us to pay them, to take him! It'll be the same.

No....my goals are much less lofty here. I see the waterfall up ahead. I just want to move the guy for some youth/picks while his value is high. Start the rebuild.

And there's an issue of backlash. You ship this player to a place he hates, other superstars and their family would notice. When Boston traded the injured IT, other players took exception. AD's dad said publicly he hated Boston for their treatment of IT....

Ok so what Boston did was downright SCUM. And yet.....has there been any real issues with them getting people, or their stars wanting out?? Not really. It took the Clippers a hot second to erase 40 years of bad-blood and attract guys. The Lakers have a long history of taking care of their players.....Aldridge didn't give a rip. Neither did Melo. Or Durant. Durant wouldn't even take a meeting with us. So while I think what we did with Kobe was ultimately the right thing, I think this angle is waaaaaayyyy overstated. You got a winning culture...you got the $$$$...you got some good enticing youth....then history be damned. Hell, the Clippers signed Griffin to a 3year extension....and whisked his sorry arse off to Detroit like 5 weeks later. And then had zero issues signing Kawaii (over us and all our good mojo, it should be noted)....so no, I don't put too much stock in that. What we'd be doing is hardly what Boston did.