Overreactions from the Los Angeles Lakers’ first week

4. The Lakers are going to regret the Anthony Davis trade

One reason why the Los Angeles Lakers had to retool their bench in the first place was the Anthony Davis trade, in which L.A. gave up three players that had been part of their much-hyped young core.

Small forward Brandon Ingram, point guard Lonzo Ball and wing Josh Hart were key contributors in L.A., potential stars in the making. Ball was once upon a time cast as the future face of the franchise, drawing comparisons to none other than Magic Johnson.

But when Davis became available, the Lakers had to pull the trigger and send the youngsters to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for the veteran superstar. LeBron’s window of being elite can’t stay open much longer, and all of L.A.’s title teams have featured a premier big man — from George Mikan to Wilt Chamberlain to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O’Neal to Pau Gasol.

(In related news, Davis put up 40 points and 20 rebounds in Tuesday’s win over the Grizzlies, the first Laker to post those kind of numbers in a game since Shaq.)

A loud segment of Laker Nation was against the Davis trade if it meant breaking up the young core. They also didn’t want to give up draft picks. It was a high price to pay, especially considering that Davis can become a free agent in 2020 and leave L.A. after one season.

After this season’s first week, the Pelicans are 0-4, but the trio of former Lakers have played well enough that the Davis trade doubters have yet to be silenced.

Ingram is averaging 27.3 points per game, hitting 50.0 percent of his field goals and 3-pointers.

Ball is averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 assists and 1.8 steals, shooting career-high percentages at the free-throw line (75.0) and from 3-point range (36.7).

Hart is averaging 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds off the bench, hitting 40.7 percent of his 3-pointers.

This could be a breakout season for all three, but would the Lakers be considered a serious title contender with Ingram, Ball and Hart instead of Davis, Green and Bradley? The latter trio has playoff experience, if nothing else, while the former has none.

The Pelicans are a win-later team building for the future. The Lakers are in win-now mode. The Davis trade was the right move to make. If he winds up leaving L.A. next summer, we can revisit the idea of regret.