I have a question, NBA world
Did the Lakers give up too much for Anthony Davis if one bubble championship is all that the trade delivers? Everyone gets their say below
Why wait?
Why put off until Friday what you can do today?
I mentioned in Monday's monster collection of musings about the Los Angeles Lakers' 0-3 start and all the corresponding conundrums posed by Russell Westbrook's ongoing presence on the roster that there would be a Lakers-themed poll question coming in the Question of the Week section in my next This Week In Basketball column.
Then it hit me: This one has enough universal appeal, from a pure team-building perspective, to lead off a Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza.
The unwritten rules of the NBA generally hold that any price paid in a trade for a superstar is a worthy investment if the trade leads to a championship. That was certainly the Lakers' belief in 2019 when they packaged Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, their draft rights to De'Andre Hunter, two first-round picks and the unprotected ability to swap first-round picks in 2023 as well as cash to New Orleans to acquire Davis.
The Lakers also had to send Isaac Bonga, Jemerrio Jones, Moe Wagner and a future second-round draft pick to Washington to make the trade's salary cap math work, but who was going to quibble about all those moving parts when the pairing of LeBron James and Davis led the Lakers to a championship in the Walt Disney World bubble in their first season as a tandem?
Well ...
Now look.
Both James and Davis have been plagued by injuries in the two seasons since their title run. And the pick swap wedged into that l-o-n-g fifth paragraph happens to come due this June, when a certain Victor Wembanyama will be available for selection for the franchise that wins the lottery.
Which means that the Lakers long to avoid the next lottery as much as they yearn to construct a trade that brings a merciful end to the Russell Westbrook Experiment, since that would spare them from the nightmare scenario of landing a top pick and watching the Pelicans snatch it away.
When the New Orleans trade was consummated, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said at the time that "Anthony Davis is arguably the most dominant all-around young player in today's NBA." Three years later, Davis is approaching his 30th birthday and was limited to 76 games over the past two seasons due to various health woes, while also struggling mightily with his shot (22.9% combined from 3-point range in 2020-21 and 2021-22 after shooting 38.3% from deep in the bubble).
You don't have to be a Lakers fan to share our curiosity here. Take a break from all the Russ Discourse flying around and ask yourself: Was it worth it?
Did everything that the Lakers surrendered to win a championship that brought a halt to their nine-season title drought — yet which will always carry an asterisk for some — become justified once LeBron morphed into Mr. October to win Finals MVP at an unfamiliar juncture on the calendar that typically belongs to Halloween and Reggie Jackson?
Let's put it to the people!
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Rankings in brief
We will publish a full 30-team edition of NBA Power Rankings from The Committee (of One) next Tuesday.
Yet the first week of the 2022-23 season has been so wacky that it felt as though we needed some sort of placeholder.
Here, then, are The Committee's top five surprise teams so far to whet your rankings appetite:
1. Portland Trail Blazers
The 4-0 start is the most eye-catching aspect of the shock, but the listless play we saw from the Blazers in the preseason makes their unbeaten launch doubly unexpected. And who didn't enjoy Bill Simmons writing Damian Lillard off after a muted performance in an opening-night victory at Sacramento and then my longtime pal spending the rest of the weekend trying to take it all back?
2. Utah Jazz
After the presumed-to-be-tanking Jazz started a stunning 3-0 with wins over Denver, Minnesota and New Orleans, including the latter two on the road, they duly found their expected form in Monday night's loss at Houston to cede the (made-up) top spot here to Portland.
3. San Antonio Spurs
The NBA's only 3-0 road team, with wins at Indiana, Philadelphia and Minnesota, is the likewise presumed-to-be-tanking Spurs. Not even Gregg Popovich would dare try to explain it.
4. Charlotte Hornets
Try telling Steve Clifford that a 2-1 start without Charlotte's two best players from last season (LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges) is in any way modest. It really was the short-handed Hornets, after losing Ball indefinitely to an ankle injury, who routed the Spurs by 27 points on opening night on San Antonio's floor before Keldon Johnson, Davis Vassell, Jakob Poeltl and Co. morphed without warning into the NBA's best road team.
5. Philadelphia/Miami/Brooklyn
On the minus side: Philly was presumed to reside in a higher tier than the Heat or the Nets when the season started, but we're lumping these three teams together because they're all supposed to land in the East's elite in some form or fashion. Instead they're off to a combined 3-8 start.
Numbers Game
🏀 23
An array of early season superlatives as compiled by StatMuse, including 23-rebound games from Chicago's Nikola Vučević and Minnesota's Rudy Gobert.
🏀 141
Memphis' Ja Morant has racked up 141 points and 28 assists in the Grizzlies' first four games. Only five other players since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976-77 have registered at least 140 points and 25 assists in the same span, according to Basketball Reference. They are: Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Michael Jordan and Russell Westbrook.
🏀 17
Slow start to the season for Ben Simmons in Brooklyn ... fouling out in two of three games and managing just 17 points.
🏀 63.3
The silver lining in Philadelphia's 1-3 start: James Harden, acquired for Simmons last February, looks sharp early.
🏀 27
After some less-than-precise tweeting from yours truly after Paolo Banchero's NBA debut), here's a better way to say it than I did in the frenzy of live action:
🏀 26
Twenty-six rookies made their NBA debuts last Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Basketball Reference. They were: Ochai Agbaji (Utah), Banchero (Orlando), Max Christie (Lakers), Christian Braun (Denver), Dyson Daniels (New Orleans), Ousmane Dieng (Oklahoma City), Jalen Duren (Detroit), Tari Eason (Houston), Simone Fontecchio (Utah), Caleb Houstan (Orlando), Jaden Ivey (Detroit), Walker Kessler (Utah), Christian Koloko (Toronto), Jake LaRavia (Memphis), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana), Bryce McGowens (Charlotte), Scotty Pippen Jr. (Lakers), David Roddy (Memphis), Ryan Rollins (Golden State), Shaedon Sharpe (Portland), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston), Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio), Cole Swider (Lakers), Peyton Watson (Denver), Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City) and Mark Williams (Charlotte).
🏀 60
Sam Merrill, selected No. 1 overall in Saturday's G League Draft by the Cleveland Charge, was the 60th and final selection in the 2020 NBA Draft by New Orleans (with his rights subsequently dealt to Milwaukee).
🏀 150,000
Merrill was Sacramento's final cut coming out of training camp, but the Kings were not able to secure his G League rights because the two-year contract they initially signed him to in the summer contained a $150,000 guarantee whether or not he made Sacramento's roster. That sum made Merrill ineligible to play for the Kings' G League affiliate in Stockton, Calif., this season and landed his name in the G League draft pool. Any guarantee over $50,000 prevents that NBA team’s G League affiliate from acquiring the player in question for that season.
🏀 5
I wanted to clear up an errant paragraph from last week's Tuesday Newsletter Extravaganza. Sam Jones and K.C. Jones were incorrectly included in an item about players selected No. 35 or lower winning at least four championship rings. Golden State's Draymond Green is one of just five such players to do so in the modern NBA Draft era (since 1966-67), according to the Elias Sports Bureau, joining Manu Ginóbili (No. 57, four rings), Kurt Rambis (No. 58, four), Michael Cooper (No. 60, five) … and Green's coach (Steve Kerr was the No. 50 overall pick in 1988).
🏀 55
Tremendously sad news hit the NBA last week: Longtime referee Tony Brown died at age 55 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Brown, initially diagnosed with the illness in April 2021, officiated 1,110 regular-season games and 35 playoff games in 20 seasons as an NBA official. Brown made his debut as an NBA Finals referee in 2019-20 and continued to work in the league's Replay Center last season despite the cancer treatments he was undergoing.
Posting this one on behalf of Johnny L in Los Angeles, who sent in these words:
One thing to call out as a Laker fan ... winning the chip after Kobe's passing had incredible meaning to me as a fan. It's easy in hindsight to say maybe the bubble chip wasn't worth all these current (and future) years of pain. But I recall that time period, where Kobe passed, then my grandfather passed from COVID, and basketball returning was such a reprieve from the hard time. Seeing my Lakers raise that championship trophy ... totally worth all the draft picks we gave up for AD. Would do this 100/100 times.
I'm on the record over the years wondering about why they gave up so much given the lack of competition on the market for Davis, but it is what it is and they won with assets left over to potentially improve a championship roster. It certainly sucks they squandered those assets and now have such a bare cupboard, but that was known as soon as LeBron showed up. The key is to win as much as you can before those assets are drained. Wish they'd won more or been more relevant in the title picture than they've been but championships are the point of this and winning to help a city mourn Kobe's loss means quite a bit.