Anthony Davis gives $350,000 to Kentucky Flood Relief

Some potential good news for the aforementioned Lakers and the soon-to-be-extension-eligible James: Anthony Davis’ surprising disclosure in mid-June that he hadn’t shot a basketball since early April might have been a blessing in disguise. Davis, by all accounts, has been working out with increased diligence ever since his comments generated a wave of strong criticism. -via marcstein.substack.com / July 30, 2022

An NBA insider had a different (and broader) take on Kyrie Irving and the Nets. “Kyrie is the move. They should offer Anthony Davis with Russell Westbrook. Try and get Kevin Durant. KD for AD and a pick is as close as [the Nets] will get to what they want.” -via Bleacher Report / July 28, 2022

That may or may not be true considering that Davis hasn’t been consistently healthy, and the Boston Celtics might be able to trump a Lakers offer with Jaylen Brown as a centerpiece. An Indiana package may offer more depth, but is it enough? “What do Buddy and Turner do for the Lakers? Add a 5 percent chance the team wins a title?” an NBA executive said. “That’s probably worth one protected first, but certainly not two.” “Maybe if they could combine the Nets and Pacers into one trade, bring back Kyrie, Turner and Buddy, that’d be worth giving up a couple of firsts,” the executive continued. “Even if that saved the Nets a ton of money and Indiana got two firsts out of it, do they agree to work together to help LeBron and the Lakers contend?” -via Bleacher Report / July 28, 2022