Anthony Davis has been linked to the Knicks amid rumors of major roster changes if LA loses to Denver in the first round of the playoffs.
If the Lakers decide their current core has run its course and opt to trade Davis, their best bet would be making a deal with New York, according to an anonymous NBA general manager who spoke with Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney.
“When you look at it, if you’re serious about trading Davis at some point then you need to accomplish a few things,” the GM said. “You have to get him somewhere he wants to be. He wants to be a Laker. So if you trade him, you have to do right by him, send him to a good team in a good market, you don’t want to burn any bridges with (Klutch Sports, Davis’s representatives).
“You need a team willing to take on his money. Because it’s a lot. And you need a team who can load you up with draft picks. There’s really one team that fits all of those, and that’s the Knicks. It would not be hard to make a deal work there. You can line up the salaries. You can package a ton of picks. You can throw in a young player. You can take on a salary the Lakers might not want. I mean, he is one player and you can get a huge haul here.”
Deveney noted that trading Davis would be complicated by his $177 million extension that kicks in for 2025-26.
Additionally, a Davis trade can only come to fruition if the Lakers decide it’s time to blow it up.
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