LeBron James: Playing With Anthony Davis ‘Would Be Amazing, Like, Duh’

LeBron James says teaming up with Anthony Davis in L.A. “would be amazing, like, duh.”

The Lakers would have to trade for AD, who is under contract with the New Orleans Pelicans for $27.1 million next season and has a $28.8 million player option for 2020-21.

The 25-year-old NBA All-Star added to the growing speculation over his future by signing with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports in September, where James is also represented.

Per ESPN:

Ahead of Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans visiting the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time this season on Friday, LeBron James openly pondered what having the All-Star forward alongside him in purple and gold at Staples Center would be like.

“That would be amazing,” James told ESPN on Tuesday before the Lakers’ 115-110 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, referring to the Lakers landing Davis through a trade. “That would be amazing, like, duh. That would be incredible.”

He is eligible for a supermax extension this summer worth $239 million over five years, should he choose to stay with New Orleans. Should he be traded and ride out the rest of his guaranteed deal, his new team — such as the Lakers or the Boston Celtics, who also are lurking in the Davis sweepstakes with trade assets galore — could sign him to a five-year, $205 million extension in the summer of 2020. Or if he simply waits out his final year with the Pelicans and tests unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020, the most he could sign for with a new team with cap space would be for four years, $152 million.

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