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Anthony Davis has helped turn the Lakers' 2-10 start into a 7-11 record. He is averaging 33.4 points per game and 17.6 rebounds per game over his last five appearances.
The Lakers are 5-1 in their last six matchups. However, a massive caveat to that statline is that three of those five wins have come against a bottom-five, possibly-tanking-for-Wembanyama team in the San Antonio Spurs.
Their only loss, on the other hand, came against the top team in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns. A win each over the Irving- and Simmons-less Brooklyn Nets and the Detroit Pistons rounds out the tally.
The Lakers are, for the second year in a row, a poorly constructed team. They have given up so much over the last five years that a convincing argument could be made that the 2020 NBA title might not be able to offset all of their pitfalls since.
This lack of resources, vis-à-vis NBA trades, is a major reason for their inability to sign good players. They gave up all of their young talent and draft picks once for Davis and a second time for Russell Westbrook.
While Westbrook has been pegged as a trade piece for quite some time now, Anthony Davis has been a non-starter for the LAL front office. However, according to Colin Cowherd, the Lakers should trade Davis, and they should do so as soon as possible:
"Last night, the Lakers lose again. They're terrible, unwatchable, but Anthony Davis had a huge night. ... His last five games, he's averaging 35 points and 18 rebounds.
"This is precisely the time, yes, it is, to trade him. It's the perfect storm. LeBron is out, so Anthony Davis is getting tons of touches. The Lakers just faced a stretch of weak teams ... the Nets, the Spurs, the Pistons.
Cowherd pointed out that several teams in the Eastern Conference will have to face up to the juggernaut that is Giannis Antetkounmpo come playoff time, and so top teams in the East not named Milwaukee Bucks should look at trading for Davis.
Cowherd further put forward a trade suggestion:
"Are the Lakers close to a championship? No. Ask yourself another question. Will Anthony Davis remain healthy? This is the time to buy low, sell high.
"There's about four teams in the East that are going to have a 'Giannis-issue.' ... Celtics get Anthony Davis, Lakers get Robert Williams III"
While these comments are certainly hyperbolic, LAL's front office is yet to prove its competency in carrying out such trades.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Lakers gain some momentum
The Lakers picked up their seventh win on Saturday as they went past the San Antonio Spurs for the third time in two weeks. LeBron James registered a season-high 39 points in the win, after missing six of his last eight games.
James also came out of a shooting slump, making seven of his 12 3-point attempts (58.3%). He had been averaging 24% from 3-point range before.
As mentioned before, Davis is on a roll, and Dennis Schroder's return to the lineup has only brought positive outcomes so far.
Austin Reaves has found more of a scoring groove as well, and has logged double-digit scores in five of his last six games. Reaves recorded just four games with double-digit points and no games with 20-plus points in his first twelve outings.
