There has been a lot of discussions recently about what the Los Angeles Lakers are going to do in the NBA offseason to upgrade their roster. The and Russell Westbrook have a mutual interest in parting ways, but that may not be enough to help get the team back on track to contending.
However, if the Lakers decided to shop another part of their Big 3 in Anthony Davis, they could get closer to building a contending roster. Davis has major injury concerns, but when healthy, he is still a force on both ends of the course.
Should they make him available, they likely won’t get close to the package that they sent to the New Orleans Pelicans for him. However, they should still be able to recoup an All-Star level player with other rotation pieces and possibly some draft capital as well.
One team to keep an eye on in the Davis sweepstakes would be the Boston Celtics. They were one of the teams in the running when the Pelicans were looking to trade him before he was ultimately traded to the Lakers.
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Just how close were the Boston Celtics to acquiring Anthony Davis? According to an NBA executive, Danny Ainge was willing to part ways with Jayson Tatum to acquire him from the New Orleans Pelicans.
“It was no secret Danny wanted him (in 2019). He would have given up Tatum in a heartbeat for AD. They wanted to offer Brown, but it would have come down to Tatum. And he would have done it in the end, I think. Now the Los Angeles Lakers would want Tatum back, but there is no way the Celtics do that.
“But put AD in a deal with Horton-Tucker for Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Aaron Nesmith? The Lakers would have to consider that. I’d take it,” said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”
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As the executive states, Jayson Tatum may have been available to the Pelicans, but that wouldn’t be the case for the Los Angeles Lakers. Alas, the deal that was presented by the executive is one that both teams would think long and hard about.
Los Angeles needs to find a way to restock the roster around LeBron James. Acquiring Jaylen Brown along with Marcus Smart and Aaron Nesmith would give them three rotation players that fit well around James. Brown could be the team’s new long-term building block, which they were expecting Davis to be.
As for the Celtics, they balance out their roster by acquiring Davis, a premier power forward and mismatch nightmare at the center spot. That will enable Tatum to play almost exclusively on the wing and bring in another versatile wing player in Talen Horton-Tucker who is only 21-years old and oozing with potential.
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If the Boston Celtics reach the point they don’t feel as if they can win with the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, this is likely the kind of deal that they would pursue.
