At 28 years of age, Anthony Davis is one of the youngest players for the Los Angeles Lakers. This past offseason, the Lakers made several moves and reshaped much of the roster from last season.
The biggest move was undoubtedly bringing Russell Westbrook to the Lakers, a move that added a lot to the current salary cap for the Lakers.
To counter that, the Lakers signed several veterans like Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony to minimum contracts. And in the last 24 hours, we have confirmation that Rajon Rondo is returning to the Lakers as well.
The Lakers are more so building around LeBron James than Anthony Davis. The All-Star duo was pivotal in winning the 2020 NBA championship and will be expected to carry a majority of the load next season.
Davis is in the prime of his career at the moment and is the star the Lakers will build around in the years to come. Davis will be entering his 10th NBA season next year, after entering in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Interestingly enough, every Laker veteran who has played at an All-Star level in the NBA, was an All-Star the season before Davis entered the NBA.
LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo were all All-Stars in 2012, the season before Anthony Davis came to the NBA.
Now they are all teammates in Los Angeles. https://t.co/ncxLACF7O5
— Matt Williams (@StatsWilliams) August 30, 2021
As pointed out by Matt Williams on Twitter, in 2012, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Rajon Rondo were all members of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Whereas Marc Gasol and Russell Westbrook were All-Stars for the Western Conference team.
Since that time, only LeBron and Westbrook have maintained a consistent position at an All-Star. So their combination with AD means the Lakers now have an All-Star caliber big three.
The Lakers are a veteran-heavy squad, who are relying on their experience to help win them the NBA championship. And while they have signed players with a lot of experience playing at the highest level, there are questions surrounding their style.
