Looking ahead to the Lakers after LeBron

Anthony Davis adds another bag to his collection. What does it mean for the deep future of the Lakers?

Good morning. We’re back! Hope your week was lovely. Let’s basketball.

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Still Life With Open Bible; Vincent Van Gogh; 1885

The biggest NBA news related to on-court matters in recent days is Anthony Davis’ new contract extension with the Lakers. As reported by Woj, Davis inked a 3-year maximum extension on the first day it was allowed. The extension itself is worth $186 million, and when you add that value to the existing deal Davis is on, it comes out to $270 million in compensation over the next five seasons.

Five seasons is a very long commitment for both the team and Davis given where the Lakers are right now.

The franchise was in the wilderness before LeBron James arrived in 2018, landed AD in 2019, had a single great season, returned to the wilderness for 2.5 seasons and then made a run at another title down the stretch of this past season. Unsurprisingly, there have been three features of the limited stretches in which the Lakers have been at a title level since LeBron and AD arrived:

• LeBron was healthy

• AD was healthy and playing at an All-NBA level

• The supporting cast around those two made a lot of sense

Note that LeBron’s mere health spells good things for his performance. There have been times, however, when Davis has been healthy enough to play but has not made a star-level positive impact. You could attribute that to being banged up, or perhaps to being put in roles that strain his talents. But a consistent throughout AD’s career — going back to New Orleans as well — is that he is a top talent, but not a top talent that can solo carry a team to the top of the table. LeBron has been that for most of his career. AD has not.

That’s what this contract extension news has me thinking about: life after LeBron for AD and the Lakers.