Lakers Forward Talks About Joining Eastern Conference Team

The Los Angeles Lakers won the race to sign Anthony Davis via a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans earlier in the summer after they offered the best package which included three members of their young core – Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart - and draft picks. But the franchise is still sweating over the power forward’s long-term plans when he enters free agency next summer.

Davis and his agent Rich Paul have both confirmed that he will enter free agency next summer to assess his options before committing to a new long-term deal. It was this statement that put off a number of suitors in the summer including Boston Celtics, who were not willing to trade their best young talent for a one-year rental.

The Lakers were reported to be among the teams Davis will consider signing a max contract with when he enters free agency but the forward has refused to commit his future during his recent interviews after being unveiled as a Laker. The Los Angeles franchise’s general manager Rob Pelinka said during Davis’ introductory press conference that the player will be one of the pillars of the Lakers for years to come but Davis refused to entertain such thoughts preferring to commit and focus only on the upcoming campaign.

“I’m just focused on this season,” Davis said in an interview with Rachel Nichols. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I have one year here, so I’m gonna make the best of this year, and when that time comes around in the summer or whenever the season’s over — hopefully around mid-June after we just had this parade and I need a couple of days to think — then we can talk about that. But until then, I’ll try to do whatever I can to help this team win this year.”

That was the first scare for the Lakers and Davis has now certainly made more people in the Los Angeles franchise nervous when he entertained the idea of playing for the Chicago Bulls in the future. The Chicago-native said he would consider playing for his hometown franchise if the opportunity ever arose in the future.

“I mean, (this is) definitely hometown,” Davis told the Chicago Tribune speaking at the Nike Rise Camp. “If the opportunity ever presents itself and when that time comes, I’d definitely consider it.”