AD is amazing when healthy (but he's also often injured).
I feel like the Pelicans absolutely robbed the Lakers given how little leverage they actually had - Davis was leaving regardless. Two picks, two one swaps, and a few decent players isn't a bad haul all things considered.
Robbed is a bit of an exaggeration. We won’t know who wins this trade until all the draft picks are made because none of the players the Lakers traded are as good as Anthony Davis. The last pick is some kid who is currently in middle school.
I think the trade is pretty even given where each franchise is with the edge given to the team that gets the best player in the trade. The Pelicans weren’t getting comparable talent value for Davis even if you combine all the assets. The amount of assets they received still means they did very well. The Lakers know they don’t
need those draft picks if Davis is their centerpiece moving forward. I hate when players take a discount for billionaire owners, but we know they will to play with a superstar and for a chance to compete for a title. The Lakers gave up more than they probably needed to since there were no other offers close to what the Lakers had especially with the Celtics refusing to put Jayson Tatum on the table. Apparently, David Griffin wouldn’t even pick up the phone until the Lakers offered three picks. If the Lakers played hard ball, I think they could have kept Josh Hart and/or added any protection on the 2024/2025 draft pick. As stated above, the pick swap is supposedly a sweetener for the Pelicans to delay the trade and give up $4 million in cap space to the Lakers which at this point is more valuable to the Lakers than it is for the Pelicans.
Suggesting that Kawhi goes there seems ridiculous based on everything he's said and done so far - just doesn't seem like a good fit for him from a positional/personality standpoint (although obviously the Lakers, like any team, would love to have him). I still hope he signs a 1+1 w/player option contract in Toronto; that would push him to 10 years service and higher possible contracts, let him defend the championship he just won, and keep things stable for one more year in a franchise and city that will bend over backwards to support him. That said, everyone knows he misses being in LA and the Clippers could be a great fit for him.
Kawhi Leonard is a mystery. No one knows what he’s thinking. I doubt money is a motivating factor because he’ll get paid anywhere and if he goes to Los Angeles, he’ll make back most if not all money left on the table just by being in a larger market and especially the Lakers because they’re the “glamor franchise.” Personality wise, joining the Lakers would create a strange dynamic. The media would give LeBron James the bulk of their attention yet after the Finals, they seemed to acknowledge Kawhi Leonard as the unquestioned best player in the league (with Kevin Durant tearing his Achilles). Does Leonard get what he wants? The praise without nearly as much attention?
Positionally, any team with that much talent would just make it work. James prefers playing the small forward but should play power forward/point forward. Davis prefers playing the power forward but should play center. All three are versatile enough to switch based on the situation. Joining a super team has its pros and cons. The Raptors claimed they weren’t afraid of the Warriors, but that was easy to say with Kevin Durant injured. At the same time, a super team is top heavy and as we just saw, injuries to one of those players can be devastating.
If the Lakers managed to sign one of Kawhi Leonard/Kyrie Irving/Kemba Walker etc. and LeBron James is honest with himself (chances are he isn’t), he should be the third option and be more of a facilitator during the season then unleash Playoff LeBron® in May. The problem especially last year is that he had to do so much on offense because he didn’t have much help on that end. For years, he’s been “resting” on defense. That’s harder to do without an elite defender like Kawhi Leonard also on the team. Regardless, I’d bet on the Lakers scheduling losses by resting both James and Davis on back-to-back games as well as random nights.
If a team can land Kawhi Leonard, they should and figure out the rest later. Personally, I’m leaning toward wanting the Lakers use their cap space on great rotation players to fill out the roster around James and Davis rather than chasing another superstar.