Lakers Rumors: Latest on Anthony Davis' Future, Kyle Kuzma's Return from Injury

There's no denying that Anthony Davis will be the biggest name in the 2020 free-agent class.

But Los Angeles Lakers fans shouldn't get worried.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, The Brow's not going anywhere.

"Nobody believes Anthony Davis is not staying with the Lakers," Wojnarowski said on The Woj Pod.

That's good news for L.A., who traded for Davis this summer, sending Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram and three first-round picks (including the No. 4 overall) to the New Orleans Pelicans without any guarantees that he'll re-sign.

"[Davis] wanted to go to two places: New York or L.A," agent Rich Paul told ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

That means Davis wanted to be a Laker.

Sure, he'd been six-time NBA All-Star in New Orleans, but the games in L.A. matter.

Davis wants to be on a team where greatness is expected, not hoped for.

"I think a lot of stuff that I did in New Orleans, people saw and heard about," Davis told McMenamin. "But then again, people said, 'Well, it was New Orleans.' I think the big question is, 'All right, let's see what he can do on a big stage. Obviously the playoffs are the playoffs, but let's see what he does on 35 [national] TV games now.'

"Nobody was really waking up [for a game] in New Orleans. Every game now is like, 'All right, if we beat the Lakers [we accomplished something].' [With the Pelicans] we could lose games and people were like, 'OK, well, no one expected them to win this game,' or whatever. Now every night you have to show up. If not, the next day here comes your name through the tabloids."

It's still early in the season, but Davis is already making headlines for his play.

The 6'10", 222-pound big man put up a historic stat line in the Lakers' 120-91 blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

With an impressive 40 points and 20 rebounds in just 30 minutes, Davis became just the sixth player in franchise history to log a 40-20 game, joining the likes of Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George Mikan and Shaquille O'Neal, all legendary big men for the Purple and Gold.

"It's an honor," Davis told Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. "Great company. To be here part of this franchise and do something special like that and be on that list with those legends, means a lot to me. But what's more important, I'm happy that we got the win."

What's scary is that Davis delivered his dominant performance despite having pain in his right shoulder.

He pushed through and he delivered.

That should comfort not only Lakers fans, but the team's front office as it looks towards the future.

Even more than that, Davis' reason for continuing to play while hurt says everything about him.

"Tried to be Superman," Davis said.

From that, it's clear Los Angeles has the best chance to be the long-term Metropolis for its newest Man of Steel.

Kyle Kuzma's Back

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

For the first time in nine seasons, the Lakers are off to a 3-1 start.

But if the team's loss to the L.A. Clippers showed anything, it was that it needed its burgeoning star Kyle Kuzma, who was out with a stress injury to his left foot.

Now, unless he suffers any setbacks, Kuzma will be making his season debut tonight against the Dallas Mavericks.

"Yesterday was kind of the most running I've done, so to wake up and not really have too much discomfort was a good sign," Kuzma told ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. "Getting out here and doing the same thing [on Thursday], and so hopefully it's the same for tomorrow's game."

According to head coach Frank Vogel, the Lakers will exercise caution as it looks to work Kuzma back into the rotation.

"Kyle Kuzma did all of practice today," Vogel told Ganguli. "They'll see how he feels tomorrow. If he's good, he'll play about 20 minutes."

LeBron James was happy to see Kuzma back in action.

"He looks like Kuz," James told Mike Trudell of NBA.com. "But it's going to take him a little bit of time to get into game shape. There's no substitute for playing actual NBA games. It's great to have him back on the floor, we definitely missed him."

L.A. is hoping that Kuzma's time with Team USA will be on display this year.

Before going down with an injury, Kuzma showed strong gains in defense, playmaking and, of course, shotmaking.

The Lakers can use the versatile forward for it's pick-and-pop plays and floor spacing.

Kuzma also gives L.A. another option at ballhandler, which is a glaring need with Rajon Rondo out.

More than that, though, Kuzma's grit and competitive fire will add to the teams swagger.

"He works his ass off to get back every day before practice, after practice," Davis told Arnovitz. "He's one of those guys you got to pull off the floor. He's been doing a great job with [assistant] coach Phil [Handy] on adding to his game, staying in the weight room, getting stronger, making sure his foot is OK, and it all paid off. The more I see him work, the more he inspires me."

Maurice Bobb covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow Maurice on Twitter, @ReeseReport.