Your Los Angeles Lakers’ most essential player will now be under contract through 2028.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, 30-year-old Los Angeles center Anthony Davis has agreed to a three-year, $186 million extension to his existing contract, which would give him the largest yearly salary in league history at $62 million. This was the first day he could sign an extension with the club.
Despite Davis’ recent (and lengthy) lower body injury history, Los Angeles saw this as a no-brainer transaction. The Lakers will keep an eight-time All-Star two-way big man with whom they won a championship and advanced to the Western Conference Finals in the previous four seasons, as well as the league’s top defender at the most vital defensive position on the court.
Though AD is no longer in his peak as a ball-handling big man with a jumper as he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, the 6’10” big man remains a frightening presence on both ends of the court. Last season, The Brow averaged 25.9 points on 56.3% shooting from the field, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game in 56 healthy games.
Davis’ health is perhaps the most important X-factor in this circumstance. He has missed at least 10 games in each of his four seasons with the Kings, and has missed an average of 28.5 games per year due to various ailments. Injuries have also limited his effectiveness in the playoffs, to the point where his absence at the end of the Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns in 2021 not only doomed the team’s season, but also laid the groundwork for LA’s disastrous trade of its depth in exchange for an aging Russell Westbrook that summer.