No matter how well Anthony Davis plays, he cannot seem to satisfy some of his critics who still insist the Los Angeles Lakers should consider trading him.
Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd suggested the Lakers ship out Davis for Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III since the Lakers star is injury-prone.
"This is precisely the time that you trade him." @ColinCowherd explains why right now is the perfect storm for the Lakers to move Anthony Davis pic.twitter.com/4U8sfdt6bd
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 23, 2022
“Are the Lakers close to a championship team?” he asked. “No. They need like three more B+ guys, they gotta get more dudes. And ask yourself a second question, will Anthony Davis remain healthy the rest of the year…you know the answer to that. … This is the time. Buy low, sell high. … There are a lot of teams out East. And, they’re looking at their roster thinking how do we stop Giannis [Antetokounmpo]? … Just sayin’, Celtics get Anthony Davis, Lakers get Robert Williams, maybe a player. I’m just throwing it out there.”
Davis is coming off a string of magnificent performances. He put up at least 30 points and 16 rebounds in four consecutive games, and he followed that string of games up up with 25 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots last Friday against the San Antonio Spurs.
But he has a history of not being able to stay on the court. Although he has had several seasons in which he has appeared in most of his team’s games, he has been available for just 36 and 40 games in the last two full seasons, respectively.
Davis missed Saturday’s contest against the Spurs with a calf contusion. Los Angeles won without him, but it lost the rebound competition and gave up 138 points.
Overall, the team has won five of its last six games, even though LeBron James missed four of them himself with a strained adductor. However, its record is still poor at 7-11, and it is about to face a slew of challenging games over the next few weeks.
As for the trade proposal, one problem with Cowherd’s trade proposal is that Davis will make about $38 million this season, while Williams will only get paid about $11 million this season. The Celtics would have to add perhaps two more players to make the deal work under league rules.
In addition, the Celtics are coming off a trip to the NBA Finals and currently hold the NBA’s best record at 16-4, even though Williams hasn’t played yet because of knee surgery.
They may not want to upset the type of winning chemistry and combination they discovered last season when they were red-hot during the second half of the schedule.
It is impossible to predict how many games Davis will play this year. He could very well suffer yet another major injury, but he may have an equally good chance of appearing in over 70 games.
