Should the Los Angeles Lakers’ post-LeBron plans include Anthony Davis?

By re-signing LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers appear to have staved off a rebuild until the summer of 2024. After that, they could be forced to dramatically reconstruct their roster if both James and Anthony Davis leave as free agents. While James appears likely to leave, the Lakers could potentially convince Davis to stay by offering him a max contract.

Davis should be good enough to warrant another max deal in a couple of seasons, but availability is always a concern with him. He’s missed an average of 19.5 games a season over the course of his career, and he’ll be 31 years old in 2024. It takes a lot to make a team think twice about offering an eight-time All-Star who’ll be in his early 30’s a new contract, but that might do it.

That sounds crazy after the Los Angeles Lakers traded so much to get him, but they’ll have to see more from him before committing to him long-term.

The Los Angeles Lakers can still build around Davis but he’ll have to prove he’s their guy.

The Lakers have already seen what can happen to a star who was in their early 30s when they were signed to a max contract. Russell Westbrook is in the final year of his deal and is owed $47 million despite not playing anywhere close to that level. If the Lakers aren’t careful, they could soon face the same issue with Davis.

Davis is far from a lost cause, however. When he’s healthy, he’s terrific, but his body hasn’t held up over a full season since joining the Lakers.

If he can prove to the team that he can stay healthy, then Davis will be well worth the investment. Assuming they do re-sign him, the Lakers could possibly still have enough cap space to add two other stars in the summer of 2024. 2024 will have a very good free agent class and will include players such as Jaylen Brown, DeJounte Murray, Fred VanVleet, Domantas Sabonis, and Pascal Siakam.

Moreover, adding any two of those players to Davis could push them back into contention. It all starts with next season, though. If he doesn’t live up to expectations, then maybe the Lakers could be dodging a bullet by letting him walk in the summer of 2024 or by looking to trade him before he hits free agency, but let’s hope for the best.

I’m getting ahead of myself, but the Lakers will have to start thinking two steps ahead to avoid another long stretch of mediocrity, like the one that plagued them in the 2010s. Davis may very well be the player that can help them avoid more dark times, but he’ll first have to prove it.