Davis reminded everyone that he is by far the most gifted teammate LeBron has ever had, after another stellar season.
For the first time ever, the best player on a ‘LeBron James-led’ team was not The King himself. After losing to last year’s champs, the Los Angeles Lakers are at an interesting crossroads as an organization. With LeBron James nearing the end of his career, the team has an important decision to make regarding their superstar big man, Anthony Davis.
As James approaches free-agency, the Lakers could very well decide to cut their losses, let go of their superstar duo, and rebuild for the future. Though that may be the sensible route, it is hard to imagine that they would end up with a player better than Davis anytime soon. Perhaps their best option is to rebuild around him, instead of blowing it up.
After falling out of favor with a lot of fans, Davis bounced back better than ever
Davis was without question the Lakers’ best player this season, becoming the only player to make both an All-NBA and All-Defensive team this year. Despite his tremendous strides as an individual, it didn’t amount to much team success, and the Lakers experienced yet another first-round exit.
Though to no fault of his own, the brunt of the blame fell on Davis, and the Lakers look to make a big splash this off-season because of it.
They have already fired their head coach Darvin Ham and are currently in the process of hiring his replacement, with JJ Redick and Dan Hurley emerging as front-runners. He may end up being the first domino to fall, as the team looks to resign James and pair him with a new co-star.
But where does that leave Davis? His future in Los Angeles may be in question as the team shops around in hopes of retooling their roster.
Davis is undoubtedly a top five big in this league, and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins argued that he is James’ greatest teammate ever.
Trading Davis this off-season would be one of the Lakers’ biggest mistakes, because what he brings to the table is almost irreplaceable. His upside as a scorer and defender makes him much more valuable to them than any other team willing to take him on.
Because of his injury history and age, his appeal across the league has greatly diminished, and as a result, the Lakers will still be at a loss without him, no matter what assets they get in return.
Rather than completely dismantling their roster, the Lakers should look to shift their team from being centered around James, to being centered around Davis.
