By any means, Anthony Davis remains an integral part of the Los Angeles Lakers. He is, at the very least, the second-best player on the team’s current payroll. But there could be a major decision the Lakers will make any time soon, with Davis just a year away from having the option to exercise his early termination option. Davis is still a controllable asset by the Lakers for at least until the end of the 2023-24 NBA campaign, but he can get out of the contract he signed with the Lakers back in 2020 for five years and worth $189.9 million as early as 2024. If he lets that option pass, he will earn $43.219 million in the 2024-25 season.
At the moment, that is a big IF for Davis. Without an extension, it’s fair to imagine a world where Davis will terminate his deal in 2024 and then sign elsewhere. Do the Lakers want to reach that point? It can be hard to tell, but according to Brian Windhorst, the Lakers might already be in the process of preparing an offer this week for Davis.
“I do think there is an expectation that the Lakers make some sort of offer or show their intention to make some sort of offer,” Windhorst said in a recent episode of the Brian Windhorst & the Hoop Collective podcast.
The biggest drawback of having AD on the roster beyond age 31 has nothing to do with concerns about diminishing talent but with his seemingly brittle frame. He is the Mr. Glass of the NBA. Every game is an adventure for Lakers fans, who constantly have to hold their collective breath whenever Davis falls down or makes a facial gesture that signifies pain. But so long as Davis is on the team, they will have to take the bad with all the good that Davis brings to the table.