With the Los Angeles Lakers off to a horrible start to the 2022-23 season, Bill Simmons of The Ringer recently said on his podcast that there could start to be trade discussions surrounding Anthony Davis if the team can’t pull it together. Given that this Lakers team looks worse than last year’s team, it’s worth exploring the idea of an AD trade.
Because the New York Knicks have a trove of first-round picks, they’ve been brought up as a potential landing spot for Davis if the Lakers do decide to trade him. For reasons that are obvious, New York’s front office should have no interest in trading for the 29-year-old injury-prone star.
Davis is making $37.9 million this season and will make $40.6 million in 2023-24 before having a $43.2 million option in 2024-25. If he does get traded, whichever team he ends up on will have to give up quite a bit in return.
The Knicks could certainly make a deal work, but should they? Let’s take a deeper look into what it’d take for Anthony Davis to wind up in NYC.
3 Anthony Davis trade packages that Knicks could propose to Lakers
3: Bleacher Report’s bizarre proposal
Bleacher Report put together a list of potential landing spots for AD (Nets, Bulls, Mavericks, Knicks) and trade packages. In B/R’s scenario, here’s what New York would give up:
No, that isn’t a joke.
This is a deal that wouldn’t be able to go through until Dec. 15 because that’s the soonest that Mitchell Robinson can be traded.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, the Knicks were reluctant to include both RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes in a deal with the Jazz for Donovan Mitchell, so it’s hard to see the front office doing just that for AD.
You can argue that all four players that New York would be sending to Los Angeles in this deal could start together for the Knicks this season. Grimes has been dealing with lingering left foot soreness and hasn’t been playing regular minutes, but as soon as he’s fully healthy, the expectation is that he’ll be a starter. Tom Thibodeau is extremely reluctant to give Obi Toppin more minutes, although Thibs has turned a corner as of late. Toppin’s been off to a hot start for the Knicks, and if Julius Randle goes on a major decline, Toppin could end up being a starter.
But New York would be giving up all of that plus five picks for Anthony Davis. This deal has a negative percentage of becoming a reality and should be something that Knicks fans need to only worry about happening in their nightmares.