Lakers Rumors: 'Some Buzz' Anthony Davis Trade Is 'Plan B' to Russell Westbrook Deal

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly open to trading Anthony Davis as they look to save their sinking season.

Bill Simmons of The Ringer said on The Bill Simmons Podcast (1:09:00 mark) that there has been "buzz" behind the scenes about blowing things up with a Davis deal rather than going through with trading Russell Westbrook:

"There's some buzz, some buzzing that AD might be available. That that's a plan B. Because the Westbrook trade—or whatever they think they can get for Westbrook and whether you'd want to give up future assets—maybe that doesn't even make sense because what are you getting if you're the Lakers?

"You've got Davis here, who I don't think has looked the same for a couple years—certainly not close to Bubble Davis. That's the last time we saw vintage, 2018 Pelicans-level Davis. ... I don't know what the endgame is with this Lakers team, but I know the Pelicans have their pick. And I don't think, whatever they have, I don't think it's really fixable in a way to make them a playoff team."

Davis is under contract through the 2023-24 season and has a $43.2 million player option for 2024-25.

While the Lakers might listen to a Davis deal, it makes no practical sense. No team would give up a player of his equivalent skill set—or better—in a trade. Any team looking to acquire the eight-time All-Star would do so in hopes he'd lead it to a championship, and thus it would want to retain as many high-level assets as possible.

Superstar-for-superstar trades rarely happen in the NBA for a reason. It runs counter to the logic of team building.

If the Lakers decided they want to blow things up and start a rebuild, only then would a Davis trade make sense. They would find no shortage of suitors willing to part with multiple first-round picks and young players, though the deal would likely pale in comparison to the package the Lakers gave up in 2019 to acquire Davis.

It doesn't take a deep dive into the Twitter replies to find suggestions of a Davis-for-Kyrie Irving swap, which makes no basketball sense for the Lakers—and that's before delving into whether organizations would even want Irving on their teams given his promotion of an antisemitic film and evasiveness when asked by media if he held antisemitic views. Adding Irving and subtracting Davis would give the Lakers zero reliable rim protection and force a nearly 38-year-old LeBron James into a full-time power forward role.

All while giving the Lakers another primary ball-handler who does not mesh well with Russell Westbrook.

So, to wrap: Would the Lakers trade Davis? If the Brooklyn Nets decided to blow things up and offered their other star in Kevin Durant, then it might be a conversation worth merit. But Brooklyn held on to Durant all summer after his trade request and appears committed to attempting a turnaround.