It’s said that the only thing harder than winning a championship is defending it.
The Los Angeles Lakers had just won their first NBA title in a decade after defeating the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals, but they faced several questions heading into the offseason. The biggest one was the future of All-Star big man Anthony Davis, who became a champion in his first season in Los Angeles but was an unrestricted free agent after declining his play option. Then there was the question of which players should be brought back to help Davis and reigning Finals MVP LeBron James win the franchise’s 18th title.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo, both of whom played important roles in the Lakers’ title run, had player options and were likely to decline them to test free agency. Meanwhile, Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris, who were also vital cogs on the team, were free agents and sure to gain interest from other teams. Rob Pelinka and the Lakers front office may have helped delivered a championship to Los Angeles, but the road to another one would not be easy.
But after two weeks of trades, free agent signings, and contract extensions, the Lakers have emerged as the one of the biggest winners this offseason and have surrounded James and Davis with more talent than in their first year together. After bringing the likes of Dennis Schröder, Wesley Matthews, Montrezl Harrell, and Marc Gasol on board, Los Angeles also signed James and Davis to massive contract extensions, ensuring that two of the league’s best players will remain with the Purple and Gold for the foreseeable future.
While everyone anticipated news about Davis’ lucrative new contract, it was James who first inked a new deal with the Lakers, signing a two-year, $85 million extension through 2023. James, now a four-time champion, still had a year and a player option year in the four-year, $154 million deal that he signed with Los Angeles when he joined the team in the summer of 2018, which will pay him $39 million this season before the extension kicks in.
The new deal ensures that James will remain in a Laker jersey until at least 2023, which is also when his son Bronny would be eligible to join the NBA Draft if high school graduates are allowed to join the league, as it was during his time. James will be 39 by the end of that deal, but if there’s one thing that the playoffs proved, it’s that he still had a lot left in the tank in Year 17 going on 20. With the four-time MVP locked up in a new contract, all that remained was for Davis to come to terms with the Lakers on a new deal.
Less than a day after James’ contract extension, the 27-year-old Davis agreed to a five-year, $190 million deal, which includes an early termination option in the final year of the deal in the 2024-25 season. Davis, a seven-time All-Star, is set to make $32.7 million next season, which will increase annually until the fifth year of the deal, when he is expected to make $43.2 million.
The contract extension of Davis was the only remaining question in what had been a remarkable offseason for the Lakers, and the answer was clear: Davis, like James, will remain in purple and gold for the foreseeable future. The departures of Danny Green, Rondo, Howard, McGee, and Avery Bradley will leave a void, but Schröder, Matthews, Harrell, and Gasol bring more offensive firepower and other strengths while making the team younger. Davis and James, meanwhile, are still the league’s best duo until another All-Star tandem beats them four times in a seven-game series.
Los Angeles entered the offseason facing questions about, even after winning a championship. But after a series of trades and signings, the contract extensions of James and Davis capped what had been a slam dunk of an offseason for Pelinka and the front office.
There are no guarantees in the NBA, not with injuries and chemistry issues hounding champion teams in the past, and not especially at a time when many players are testing positive for COVID-19, which can cause them to miss games. But after their strongest offseason in recent memory, the Lakers have to like their chances to repeat as champions. James certainly does.
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