The Lakers recently acquired Anthony Davis in a blockbuster deal. Acquiring Davis did come a steep price because they had to gut their very good young core including giving up arguably their two most promising young players in Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. However, I believe the Lakers made the right decision and here’s why.

First off the Lakers are obviously coming off a very disappointing season where they failed to make the playoffs for the six straight season despite having signed LeBron James, who is still arguably the best player in the league last off-season. The Lakers were plagued with injuries which definitely contributed to their disappointing season especially because LeBron missed 27 games the most of his career.

LeBron James is 34 years old and gonna be turning 35 this December which means the Lakers championship window is right NOW. They could ill afford to wait for their young core to develop which is why they needed to make a big splash to improve their roster.

By adding Anthony Davis the Lakers are adding a superstar who has essentially averaged 25 & 10 for his career and is coming off a season where he averaged 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists. Davis is a dominant presence on both sides of the court. He averages a little over 2 blocks a game for his career.

Davis on defense has the ability to switch on smaller players, is very long, a terrific Rim protector, can guard the pick and roll.

Offensively Davis is one of the most skilled if not the most skilled big man in the league. He can hit the mid range jumper, can post up, runs the floor very well, can take and beat his man off the dribble pretty much at will, a great pick and roll player, although he isn’t a great three point shooter he is a more then capable one, and he can play both the power forward and center position. As a Lakers fan I just imagine the possibilities of the two man game with LeBron and AD.

Now I want to talk about LeBron because there has been a lot of talk about his demise, but I think that’s exaggerated because LeBron still averaged 27.5 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds, and shot over 50 FG%.

Think also people have to remember that LeBron missed nearly 30 games and prior to going down on Christmas Day against the Warriors they were the fourth seed in the West. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Lakers would’ve made the playoffs if LeBron stayed healthy the entire season because they still struggled when he returned to the lineup, however that is still a significant amount of time to be without your best player especially considering how young the team was and the difficulty of playing in the Western Conference.

One huge issue with the Lakers roster last year was the lack of shooting and this is definitely an area the team will need to address in the offseason. LeBron was at best whether it was in both of stints in Cleveland with the Cavaliers or when he was in Miami with the Heat when he had quality shooting around him. When LeBron has shooters around him it becomes nearly impossible to stop him from getting to the basket and getting the opposition in foul trouble.

LeBron and AD have the potential to be the best Lakers duo since Kobe/Shaq and maybe even the best duo overall the NBA has seen since Kobe/Shaq because you have arguably two of the top five players in the world who are both at the top of their respective games. If the Lakers are able to surround this dynamic duo with shooters then I believe the Lakers not only are championship contenders, but the favorite in the Western Conference because both LeBron and AD are MVP candidates if healthy and also a perfect fit together.

LeBron is still an elite playmaker and Davis is one of the best finishers in the game. Just imagine all the lobs especially in transition with these two next season. LeBron and AD will be able to have a deadly pick and roll attack. The Lakers can also play LeBron at the PF position and Davis at C which will make them nearly impossible to defend.

They’ll also have the ability to switch more on defense and even though LeBron isn’t the same defensive player he used to be I still fully believe he can be an elite defensive player when he wants to be, but much like with Kobe Bryant in the latter stages of his prime LeBron has to conserve his energy and pick his spots more when it comes to defensively.

Lastly if you didn’t pay attention or watch the NBA Finals the Warriors who have dominated the West the last five years lost their best player in Kevin Durant to a torn Achilles and will likely miss all of the 2019-2020 season even if he does remain with the Warriors. The Warriors also lost Klay Thompson who is one of the best two way players in basketball. Klay suffered a torn ACL and is likely gonna miss most of it not all of next season. This means the championship window is wide open for the Lakers.

The Lakers were also able to keep Kyle Kuzma which is big because he has shown the most promise of the Lakers young core. Kuzma averaged just under 19 points a game last season, 5.5 rebounds, and had 8 games of over 30 points which clearly showed he has the ability to explode offensively. Kuzma definitely needs to improve defensively and be a more consistent three point shooter, but he definitely was a big steal for the Lakers in the draft and has the potential to develop into an All Star.

As a die hard Lakers fan it’s been a long time since the team has been contending for a championship, but right now I fully believe the Lakers are gonna be back in title contention. They still have some work to do, but acquiring a superstar like AD and pairing him with one of the all time greats in LeBron who is still playing at an elite level is a great start.