With most of the big free agent work done, attention can turn to other important issues central to the team's future. Like what's coming for Anthony Davis.
The Lakers star is eligible for a new contract extension before the season, one that could add another three years and nearly $168 million to his contract. ESPN's Dave McMenamin reports the Lakers are likely to come to some sort of arrangement with A.D. before the season starts - details TBD. Obviously those details matter, but bigger picture, it raises all kinds of questions about not only the Lakers and their future (this would be the first deal taking Davis well beyond the LeBron James Timeline, Davis will be well into his 30s, and so on) but the way contracts like this will be handled across the league. With the new CBA, will teams automatically give out these extensions/max contracts to star players?
Is this something the Lakers should automatically do? Would they be better off letting that deal play out? How much risk is there in giving an injury prone guy like that so much money going into his 30s? How much risk is there not giving him that contract extension?
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets continue demonstrating how much they relished beating the Lakers en route to the first title in that franchise's history. It mattered. A lot. They talked about it after they won. At the parade. In subsequent interviews, and so on. This week now-former Nugget Bruce Brown noted how intense and locked in Denver was in that series, and that they never felt threatened in any of the games despite close scores.
So do we have a genuine rivalry at this point? Both teams ought to be very good next year, which will make those games meaningful. Certainly a third postseason go-round is possible. It's easy to hope for, because the Lakers have been without any real rivalries for a few years, now. They were, obviously, really bad for a long stretch, and even when LeBron and Davis arrived, the all-or-nothing yo-yo they've been on has made it hard to establish those sorts of rivalries.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: Anthony Davis is extension-eligible. So you just give him the money, right?
SEGMENT 2: What you risk giving Davis an extension... and what you risk in not giving it to him.
SEGMENT 3: Lakers vs. Nuggets: Is this going to be come a true rivalry going forward?
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