Marysville Appeal-Democrat

Davis, Lakers finalizing five-year max deal worth $190 million

- By Dan Woike Los Angeles Times (TNS)

All-star forward Anthony Davis, who pushed his way toward Los Angeles in a trade last offseason, will cap this one by signing a fiveyear deal to stay with the Lakers.

Davis’ contract will be worth $190 million and will have an early terminatio­n option after the fourth year, according to Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul on Thursday.

The deal comes less than 24 hours after the Lakers and Lebron James agreed on a two-year extension to keep him with the team through the 2022-23 season.

Davis helped the Lakers win the franchise’s 17th NBA championsh­ip last season, his first with the team. He opted out of the final year of his contract, which would have paid him $28.7 million next season.

The 27-year-old averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists after leveraging a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. He averaged 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks in the playoffs. Davis is also regarded as one of the best defenders in the NBA, and with the Lakers needing to make a switch in the NBA Finals, coach Frank Vogel turned to him to cover Heat star Jimmy Butler.

The 6-foot-10, 253-pound Davis, who will be entering his ninth season, is a seven-time All-star who has been selected four times to the ALL-NBA first team and AllDefensi­ve team.

After the Lakers sent out most of their young players and multiple draft picks to New Orleans to acquire Davis in 2019, he said he intended to explore free agency once his contract expired last season. Due to the Lakers’ success and his obvious on- and off-court chemistry with James, no teams in the NBA were viewed as a significan­t threat to lure him away

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States