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The Los Angeles Lakers are having a tough season. As any team with LeBron James, they were pitted as championship favorites before the season began. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, it has not materialized as planned. The squad is only 16-14 and due to the highly competitive Western Conference, they will even need to work for the top six spots. If they are seventh or eighth, they will have to go through the play-in tournament. A part of the reason why the Lakers are down is Anthony Davis. While not a popular opinion, a possible Davis trade might be the kick the Lakers need. Here are two reasons why the Lakers need to trade Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis trade
Injuries and reliability
The first reason is quite obvious. While it is completely understandable that AD does not choose to have injuries, it is still a major issue. This year, the Unibrow missed just three games, but he will be out for the next four weeks with an MCL sprain, according to Shams Charania. This is a key stretch of the season and the Lakers really need Davis on the court to help them out. They currently occupy the sixth spot in the West, but the Nuggets, Mavericks, and even Timberwolves are within striking distance.
In the next four weeks that Davis is out, the Lakers have key matchups versus the Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Suns, Nets, and the Nuggets, to name a few. While there are some easy games, here and there, most of these squads are either direct competitors for the playoffs, or championship contenders the Lakers need to go through to reach the title, which is the goal of the team.
If Anthony Davis is not there, most responsibility falls down on James, who is playing 37.1 minutes per game, at the age of 37. He will definitely enter the playoffs with serious fatigue, and there it is even more evident how Davis cannot be relied on. If he is having issues now when the workload increases as the playoff battle heat up, how can the Lakers count on Davis? This is a serious question that coach Frank Vogel and the rest of the organization need to answer.
Once again, it is not fully Davis' fault that he keeps getting injured. Maybe some blame does fall on him and his conditioning, but the majority of it is simply bad luck. That is completely irrelevant for the Lakers, however, as they need to have a second star they can rely on to be there. He keeps missing time and if that is the case in a pivotal game in the playoffs, that will be the end of the Lakers' title hopes.
A major dip in efficiency and play
Anthony Davis from the Pelicans and his first season in Lakers uniform is not the same Anthony Davis we see now. When he arrived in LA in 2019, he was a complete player who was just adding the three-point shot to his arsenal. In his second-to-last season in New Orleans, Davis averaged 28.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, shot 53.4% from the field, and finished third in MVP voting. Contrasting that with this season makes us think that something happened in the meantime that really impacted Davis.
Of course, one could make arguments that it is a different team he joined, with James there, and other competent players, and he does not have to carry as much. However, in his first season in the Lakers, Davis was fairly close to his Pelicans numbers. He was on 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, and shot 50.3% from the field. That is really not too far off his best season in his career, which is the 2017-18 season in New Orleans. He gradually lost his touch and it is visible when he actually features for the Lakers.
Injuries most likely played a major role, but it probably goes beyond that. The Unibrow sometimes looks completely uninterested and like he is not fully concentrated on the game. That is not what the Lakers expected and while he did win a title in 2020, the Lakers fans and organization expected Davis to slowly take over the reins from James, as he gradually falls off. Right now, it looks like James is still carrying this team, even through age and, now even more frequently, injuries.
Anthony Davis has brought a lot to the Lakers and he was a major part of why they won the title. However, before it is too late, the Lakers need to realize that Davis is not going to be the leader of this franchise as James slowly rides into the sunset. He is an excellent player, but when healthy, and clearly not as excellent as he was a couple of years back. Trading him now would bring at least some value for the Lakers, and they need to at least consider it.
