Anthony Davis and the Lakers reached an early contract renewal, and the Lakers ensured that at least until the summer of 2028, Brother Thick Eyebrows would wear a purple and gold shirt with a super top salary of $186 million for three years, unless the two sides decided to seek the possibility of a deal. As the 30-year-old league top insider announced his contract renewal, the last suspense in the offseason also came to an end. With the revelation of ESPN’s Woj and Davis’ agent Ricky Paul, the details of AD’s renewal surfaced and the three mysteries were solved one by one.
There have been related reports and speculations before, mentioning that Zijin Army does not want to complete the early contract renewal with Davis this summer. On the one hand, although Davis has outstanding ability, due to health reasons, his body is really fragile, and the Lakers will consider whether to wait until next summer. On the other hand, James is old, and no matter whether his eldest son Brownie can get on the NBA stage or not, the rest of Zhan’s career has come to an end. The Lakers will remain cautious and consider starting reconstruction in the offseason in 2024, instead of renewing the contract with Davis in advance.
Obviously, these guesses are all wrong. According to the report of Wo Shen, the Lakers didn’t offer the contract after the offseason, like those teams that offered the early contract renewal for the 2020 rookie, and it was one month later than the Green Army’s five-year renewal of 304 million Jay Brown. In fact, there are objective reasons. That’s because according to the rules, August 5th, Beijing time, is the first day when the Lakers can renew their contracts. Pelinka did not hesitate to offer a super maximum salary of $186 million for three years, and he was full of sincerity. At this point, there are rumors that the Lakers want to wait and see and are unwilling to renew Davis in advance.
Similarly, it was reported that Brother Thick Eyebrows didn’t want to stay with the Lakers for a long time. The reason is similar to that mentioned above. James, Davis’ idol, is retiring soon. If Browne finally chooses to play NBA and doesn’t join the Lakers (Browne’s heart problem hasn’t been exposed yet), LeBron will probably go to other teams. In this case, Brother Thick Eyebrows doesn’t need to bind the future with city of angels so early.
As a matter of fact, according to the report of Woshen, after Pelinka submitted the contract renewal to Ricky Paul, Ricky Paul told his employer by phone. After Davis received the call, he chose to promise almost without thinking, and the whole process was completed in one go, which may have taken 30 minutes in total. There is no doubt that whether James is in this blueprint for the future of the Lakers or not, Davis will choose to stay in Los Angeles, and he has long been ready to carry the banner of the Lakers alone.
In view of Davis’ fragile nature, it has been reported that the Lakers want to lower the price, from the initial three-year $146 million to the popular three-year $170 million. In short, they don’t want to offer a super top salary. After all, after completing the early contract renewal, Davis’ player options for the 2024-25 season will be implemented, plus a three-year contract renewal. By the time the contract expires in 2028, Davis will be 35 years old. Whether he can stay healthy in the last few years of the contract is worrying.
Now everyone has seen the determination of the Lakers. The average annual salary is as high as $62 million, which is $186 million in three years, surpassing Jay Brown to become the first average salary in NBA history temporarily. There is no such thing as underpricing. Of course, in a sense, Davis didn’t choose to stay out of the contract until next summer and re-sign with the Lakers, which is also considered as the Zijin Army saving money-at least for now, compared with the total contract of 270 million yuan for five years and 304 million yuan for five years for Brown, it still saves a lot of money.
