Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2019-20
2. Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis is one of the premier power forwards in the NBA today. Don’t take my word for it, though, his numbers stand on their own merit.
For starters, following his 2012-13 rookie campaign, Davis has averaged at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per contest in each of the last six seasons.
Not only that, but his career averages include 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per contest on 51.7 percent shooting from the field.
While Davis hasn’t played in a ton of playoff games — just 13 to be exact — he has performed well on that stage as well. In those 13 games, Davis has averaged 30.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest while converting 52.6 percent of his shot attempts.
Based on the numbers it would be reasonable to presume that AD isn’t under any pressure, but there is a caveat.
You see, Davis decided that he wasn’t going to sign a long-term extension with the New Orleans Pelicans and subsequently requested that the team trade him a year before he would become an unrestricted free agent.
According to his agent, Rich Paul, the primary reason Davis issued the request was because he wanted to play for team that could consistently compete for a championship.
"“Anthony wants to be traded to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship,” Paul, told ESPN. “Anthony wanted to be honest and clear with his intentions and that’s the reason for informing them of this decision now. That’s in the best interests of both Anthony’s and the organization’s future.”"
Although the Los Angeles Lakers now have two of the top five players in the league in James and Davis, they gave up a substantial amount in return, sending Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart to the Pelicans, along with four first-round picks, including this year’s No. 4 overall pick — De’Andre Hunter.
Additionally, the Lakers also sent Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, Moritz Wagner and a future second round draft pick to the Wizards.
True, the Pelicans didn’t surround Davis with the kind of talent it takes to seriously content for an NBA title.
Now that the Lakers are a couple of notches above the team he requested to be traded from, it will be interesting to see if Davis will be able to help the Lakers return to the postseason for the first time since 2013, especially since they gave up a lot to acquire him.