- The Lakers gave Anthony Davis a massive three-year $186 million extension despite his injury history
- Davis’ agent Rich Paul believes that his injuries were flukish
- Paul said it was important for the Lakers to re-sign Davis considering what he brings to the team
Anthony Davis was going to be eligible to sign an extension with the Los Angeles Lakers from August 4th and the team wasted little time in getting it done. Davis signed a three-year, $186 million extension with the Lakers on Friday and is now under contract till 2028.
There were some reports that the Lakers might not rush to give the eight-time All-Star an extension considering his injury history but that proved not to be the case. Davis’ agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul explained just why the team looked past the injury concerns and gave him this massive deal.
“They understand AD and his work ethic has shown,” Paul told Sportskeeda. “He has some injuries, but it wasn’t due to him not working. It’s not like he came into camp overweight or showed any laziness. There were just fluke things. That happens in the game.”
“[The Lakers] weren’t caught up in that,” Paul said about Davis’ injury history. “When you look at their style of play and what AD can bring to the table, it’s just something that was important to the team.”
It is true that Davis has never shown up out of shape to camp or anything like that. The problem though is that his body just happens to be a bit brittle and a slightly awkward fall to the floor is enough to keep him out of action for a while, as we have seen time and time again.
Did The Lakers Make The Right Decision Here?
The 2022-23 season was Davis’ 11th in the NBA and the 30-year-old put up great numbers. He averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game, but he only managed to play 56 games.
Davis has now missed 132 games in the last three seasons and big men with injury issues don’t get healthier in their 30s. The chances of him staying injury-free for the next five seasons are next to none but this was a move the Lakers had to make.
They couldn’t afford to risk alienating Davis in any way, as he is just too important for them. As long as he and LeBron James are around, the Lakers will be contenders, and giving the big man this extension was a risk worth taking for that.
You could argue maybe they could have tried to make him take a bit less but if there is one thing we know about Rich Paul, it is that he’ll ensure his clients get all the money they can get.
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