Run it back: Anthony Davis to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers

It was pretty clear that the Los Angeles Lakers were fully confident in their abilities to keep Anthony Davis on the team for the long term after they traded away multiple assets and young players to land him in a trade last summer.

Most reports claimed that, barring a disaster, Davis had every intention to re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of this season, especially considering he’s represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, the same agency that represents LeBron James.

Now, Shams Charania of The Athletic has confirmed what everybody knew was going to happen: The 7-time NBA All-Star will opt-out of the final year of his deal to work out on a long-term extension with the purple-and-gold.

Anthony Davis To Re-Sign With Los Angeles Lakers After Winning NBA Finals

This was a no-brainer move by Anthony Davis and his camp, honestly. The Los Angeles Lakers don’t have much cap space but can make a couple of moves to land a third star next to him and LeBron James, even if that means parting ways with Danny Green, and Kyle Kuzma.

The Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and four picks to the New Orleans Pelicans, while also sending away Moritz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and Jemerrio Jones to the Washington Wizards to land Davis.

Many people thought they were crazy for giving away that much for a player that could hit free agency this summer. Fast forward to today and they now have another Larry O’Brien trophy and Davis is set to stay at the Staples Center.

During his first season in the purple-and-gold, The Brow averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.3 blocks, and 1.2 three-pointers per game on 50/33/84 shooting. He finished in 3rd in total blocks and blocks per game, 4th in PER, 4th in defensive rating, 4th in offensive win shares, 2nd in defensive win shares, 4th in win shares, 6th in plus-minus, and 6th in VORP. Yeah, I think the Lakers paid a fair price for him.