Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 Anthony Davis trades as third team

1. Los Angeles Lakers

It has already been reported by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski that multiple league sources have said Anthony Davis is unlikely to re-sign with any team outside of the Los Angeles Lakers. Therefore, let’s look at the best package the Lakers can offer New Orleans, even if Wojnarowski reports the Pelicans are currently screening their calls from L.A.

The Lakers have plenty of assets to trade and the Pelicans will be looking to gain everything they can. As a result, L.A. will likely be forced to go all in if it wants to acquire Davis via trade.

Giving up Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and two first round draft picks would be incredibly difficult for the Lakers, bu in return, they’d gain a second superstar to match with LeBron James. They’d also acquire Ian Clark and Solomon Hill from New Orleans to bring back some depth to their rotation.

Cleveland makes its presence felt in this trade by sending Rodney Hood to the Lakers, as well as Tristan Thompson and Jordan Clarkson to the Pelicans. Hood will buff up the Los Angeles bench, while Thompson and Clarkson become two members of a rebuilding team in New Orleans.

The Cavaliers walk away with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo and a 2021 first round pick. KCP and Rondo won’t be much help to the rebuilding process, but the draft pick certainly will.

One thing to note is that Los Angeles will likely end up making another deal after this one in order to free up some cap space. Their best bet would be to ship Hill somewhere else. By doing this, they will move closer to being able to sign a third All-Star in free agency and officially be in the race for a championship.

Obviously, this is a lot for L.A. to deal. The team is basically sacrificing its future in hopes for a title while James is still in his prime. However, they do hold onto Josh Hart and most of the draft picks they traded away will not matter by the time James’ four-year contract is up.