Currently at the 13th place in the Western Conference Standings, the Lakers are out of the play-in tournament picture if things were to end today. Moreover, their star players – Anthony Davis is also side-lined due to a foot injury for an indefinite time period as we are just approaching the half way mark of the 2022-23 season.
But if you were to believe Bill Simmons, this was only a matter of time for the Purple and Gold franchise as they gave up on their young core – Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball (along with 3 first round picks) whilst acquiring Anthony Davis from New Orleans Pelicans in 2019.
Simmons stated how Lakers gave up upon their ‘eight years’ of future just to acquire Anthony Davis for quick success. Now if one thinks about it, Anthony Davis’ pairing with LeBron James was a hit in the first season itself but ever since that point, it has just been King James alone on the court for majority of the time for LA Lakers.
Simmons stated, “When you trade eight years of assets for one guy, you can’t be then surprised in 2023 that your team’s not good anymore. This is the risk of trading eight years of draft picks and lottery picks and guys like Brandon Ingram. They traded all that stuff.”
Just when the Lakers broke their 4-game losing streak by beating the Orlando Magic, they have once again lost to a depleted Miami Heat side, who too have been struggling to make a consistent impact in their conference standings. Will Davis’ return be too little too late for the 2020 NBA Champs? Remains to be seen.
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