Lakers Rumors: Anthony Davis, Lakers Advance To Next Step

Just shortly after reports surfaced that Anthony Davis agreed to play for the Lakers, the All-Star center is now reportedly willing to cooperate with the team for certain developments.

The newest member of the Los Angeles is reportedly willing to waive his trade bonus in order for LA to gain additional cap space. The reason? Davis appears to be willing to help the team land another max free agent or, if not, a solid player who can serve as additional key factor for the team.

According to Clutch Points, should Davis really decide that he would waive the trade bonus, the Lakers will be relieved around $27.7 million in cap space. However, sources claimed that this amount is still not enough to land a max contract free agent this offseason.

But if Davis will change his mind and decide to take the money in the end, the team’s cap space will slim down to $23.7 million.

There is an additional twist to this that LA could benefit from, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. If the Lakers could wait until July 30 to finish the trade, their cap space will shoot up to $32.5 million, an amount good enough to finally acquire a max level free agent.

However, from the look of how things are going, the expectation is that Lakers will complete the trade by July 6.

With Davis now showing high interest in helping Lakers add more stars, it is just right for the NBA world to assume that the 26-year-old All-Star is unselfish and very goal-oriented.

NBA veteran Caron Butler stressed a point regarding Davis and the scenarios that surround him these days in a recent episode of ESPN’s "Get Up." Butler said that the NBA is a “copycat league” and the “one-year rental” of Kawhi Leonard by the Toronto Raptors seems to impact the situations involving Davis.

In simpler terms, Butler suggested that since the one-year deal of Raptors and Leonard actualized and then eventually bloomed to a championship, other NBA teams have become open to the possibility of using the same type of deal with Davis in the hopes of winning a championship too.

Whether or not Butler’s speculation turns out to be true, one thing is certain within the Lakers today. It appears that Davis is willing to make some adjustments for the team, which leads another question: how badly does Davis really want a championship win?