The Anthony Davis trade was a pivotal one in the recent history of the Los Angeles Lakers. And no, the conversation here is not about the deal that landed Luka Doncic in Hollywood. This one looks back to the original move to free Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans.
After LeBron James joined the Lakers via free agency during the 2018 offseason, the franchise needed to pair him with a running mate capable of supporting his NBA title dreams in Los Angeles. It took some serious effort, and surrendering what was thought to be a substantial haul at the time, but Davis finally found his way to the Lakers organization in the summer of 2019.
The persistence needed to acquire the superstar big man was quickly rewarded in the 2020 NBA Playoffs with another championship banner in Los Angeles. One final wrinkle of the original package sent to acquire Davis has been settled.
The Lakers not only coughed up a handful of promising young talents at the time, but also a substantial amount of first-round picks to secure the services of the two-way superstar. One important element that was reported about the trade involved an option to defer the 2024 unprotected pick to 2025.
The Pelicans exercised that ability. The 2025 first-round selection that would have belonged to the Lakers will indeed be the final domino set to drop from the blockbuster trade.
With a handful of teams, including the Lakers, holding an identical 50-32 record for the 2024-25 NBA season, the league had to step in and finalize the draft order among them.
NBA PR reported, “The Los Angeles Lakers (50-32) won a tiebreaker with the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers, and the LA Clippers. Second, third, and fourth place in the tiebreaker drawings went to Indiana, the LA Clippers, and Denver, respectively.”
The Lakers picked turned out to be the most valuable of the bunch involving the 50-win teams. The Atlanta Hawks, who received the pick from the Pelicans, will now be selecting 22nd overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.
This pick ends up being later in the first round than what it could have been if it had stayed in the 2024 NBA Draft. The Lakers used the 17th overall selection last year to add Dalton Knecht to the team.
However, the Pelicans deferring to 2025 allowed them to include the pick in the trade that landed Dejounte Murray in New Orleans. Less than a year later, there should already be some regret in that deal after seeing Dyson Daniels blossom with the Hawks.
For the Lakers, the Davis deal turned out to be one of the best trades in franchise history. Not only did it directly lead to a championship in the following season, but it also wound up being the gift that kept on giving after the move to land Doncic in Los Angeles. Rob Pelinka’s new contract extension owes a lot to this blockbuster.
