The Los Angeles Lakers are hopeful they can keep Anthony Davis on their roster for years to come, but they will have to re-sign him as a free agent this summer in order to make that happen.
Davis turned down a four-year max contract extension offer from the Lakers on Tuesday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports. The star big man informed the team that he plans to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Davis has a $28.7 million player option for the 2020-21 season that he is expected to decline. The contract he turned down on Tuesday was worth $146 million over four years. If Davis waits to become a free agent, he will be eligible to sign a five-year, $202 million contract with the Lakers.
The extension offer was simply a matter of logistics, and Haynes reports that “no one within league circles” expects Davis to leave the Lakers this summer. Davis was not permitted to sign an extension with the Lakers for six months after he was traded to them, so Tuesday was the first day the team was allowed to extend the offer to him.
Davis has fit in perfectly with the Lakers thus far. He’s averaging 27.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game while playing his typical outstanding defense in the low post. The Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference at 29-7.
The Lakers have known all along that they will have to re-sign Davis when he becomes a free agent, but they still have to go through the motions. It would be a shock if he winds up in a different uniform next season.
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