The winners and losers of the Anthony Davis trade

Winner: The lure of the Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers fell backwards into LeBron James, and pretty much did the same thing with the Anthony Davis trade. Despite their front office turmoil, missing the playoffs last year and the free agency landscape looking more and more like hostile terrain for L.A.’s once preeminent franchise, the AD trade completely flips the script. The Lakers are back.

LeBron and Davis alone is not enough to win a title, and it may not even be enough to win the West. Roster-building will be crucial this summer, and after the Lakers completely bungled everything outside of signing James last summer, this organization hardly deserves the benefit of the doubt.

With that being said, landing AD before free agency will make the task of luring a third star much easier. Adding a third star will then make team-building easier, with quality players being more willing to take discounts to taste NBA greatness (and yes, live in L.A.).

The Lakers will target Kemba Walker this summer, per the New York Times‘ Marc Stein, and other names like Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Khris Middleton and Tobias Harris can’t be far behind. Two days ago, the Lakers weren’t even the most desirable destination in their own city. Now, they’ll be tied to all the prominent names of the summer.

Los Angeles will have the requisite cap space for another max signing, so even though this is a massive gamble with AD reportedly testing free agency next summer, the Brow won’t be going anywhere if the team is good. This was a necessary step to put a title contender around LeBron before his window closes. The cost was hefty, but if it leads to a third star signing on and eventually another title, no one in L.A. will care.

Loser: Boston Celtics

It’s only fitting the Lakers and Boston Celtics were the two finalists in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes, and their jostling for position helped renew a rivalry that’s been dormant for most of the decade. L.A. won, and though the case could be made that the Celtics were wise to sit this one out, they still missed out on yet another opportunity to turn assets into tangible results.

Given the absurd number of picks the Lakers attached in the blockbuster trade, Boston was never going to match that price. Even so, general manager Danny Ainge once again has nothing to show for his plethora of overvalued youngsters — who largely disappointed this season — and his treasure trove of draft picks that lose value with each passing day.

The Celtics reportedly refused to include Jayson Tatum in trade talks for the Brow, which all but assured they were never going to get a deal done — especially once the Lakers started tripping over themselves to reach an agreement.

AD’s agent, Rich Paul, had told the world that his client would be a one-year rental in Boston, so it’s understandable why Ainge would be hesitant to mortgage his team’s future and risk losing Davis for nothing in 2020. Unfortunately, not being willing to do so all but assures Kyrie Irving will leave in free agency this summer.

With Kyrie Irving set to leave, Al Horford‘s future comes into question. If he wants to stick around, he’ll be another year older and playing on a $30.1 million player option that deprives Boston of the cap space to make any moves in free agency.

If he wants out and somehow declines that massive player option, he’d be leaving Boston empty-handed and looking at a full-on rebuild, with virtually zero assets to show for the original Brooklyn Nets trade that was supposed to usher in a new era.