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The biggest question facing the NBA right now is whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign his five-year, $ 228 million super-max extension with the Milwaukee Bucks before the December 21 deadline. If this deadline passes and Giannis has not yet put his name on paper, a collective race will be launched in the league in view of Antetokoumnpo’s arrival on the market next summer.
When a potential opportunity like this presents itself, teams want to be ready to strike.
This means putting your finances somewhere flexible enough to make room for Giannis, if any, on the fly. With that in mind, Anthony Davis, as we speak, has yet to sign an extension with the Lakers, which everyone saw as a formality. It’s still in terms of Davis staying with the Lakers; he’s not going anywhere.
But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want other superstars to come to the Lakers, or at least make this possibility financially viable. Could Davis keep an eye on Antetokounmpo before deciding how to proceed on his own accord? Brian Windhorst, an ESPN insider, recently suggested it, setting the stage for how Davis could expect to structure his contract in a way that allows Giannis to sign with the Lakers next summer.
It goes like this: If Giannis does not sign with the Bucks by the December 21 deadline, then Davis could choose to sign a one plus one deal, i.e. a two-year deal, with the second year being a player option. Davis could then withdraw from that deal next summer, when it turns out that LeBron James is also eligible to withdraw from his contract, creating enough salary space for Antetokounmpo before the Lakers sign Davis and James again. as a -cap team using its bird rights.
If it ever got this far, adding Giannis would force Davis and LeBron to take pay cuts (likely significant unless the Lakers clear the list completely) to make the math work. At the very least, the Lakers should make other roster moves – which could include the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope swap, relinquishing Kyle Kuzma and / or Alex Caruso, and potentially moving Marc Gasol and / or Montrezl. Harrell, depending on whether either of these guys goes for the second year of their contract.
There are a lot of moving parts, but it’s technically doable. It’s a possibility. And the idea is that Davis won’t rule out that possibility before it even has a chance to happen.
Again, if Antetokounmpo signs the super-max with the Bucks before the December 21 deadline, Davis can do whatever he wants. He can sign a maximum extension of five years. He can opt for a two-year contract with opt-out option in 2022, when he would be able to sign for the full 35% of the cap with 10 years of experience. Factoring for the possible addition of Giannis will no longer be necessary.
But until Giannis commits to Milwaukee, the Lakers and a bunch of other teams with cap situations, even halfway through, are going to line up their ducks in as orderly a row as possible for a chance to pursue it. That’s what’s good for business, both for the Lakers and for the league as a whole. But man, competitively, can we all agree that it absolutely stinks?
I mean how far are these guys going to go to stack the game? Previously, competition was all about seeking victory; it is now a question of eliminating, as much as possible, the possibility of losing. LeBron started all of this when he went to Miami. Kevin Durant joined a 73-game winning team he couldn’t beat. Now is Giannis going to distance himself from Milwaukee to conquer the game through a purple and gold glitch? Come on man. Have pride.
Of course, Giannis hasn’t done it yet, or even indicated that he would consider it. But if that’s what Davis is planning, then he’s already guilty. That wasn’t enough to make his way to LeBron, now he wants to add a Freak to the gang that has already won a title with KCP as third best player?
To be fair, something like that would be more about Davis remaining viable in the post-LeBron Lakers era, but it still stinks of wanting to stack the game. Call me old-fashioned. I totally have the idea that you have to play with another star to have a chance of winning it all these days, but at some point in the league you’re just losing your mind. Durant lost his mind. There’s no getting around it. And if Giannis were ever to go to the Lakers to play with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, he would be losing his mind as well.
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