The Lakers have an Anthony Davis quandary with no easy answers

The NBA trade deadline passed by a week ago, but the forbidden love between Anthony Davis and the Lakers continues to dominate at least some of our minds. Davis’ future will rule the summer, even as an incredible set of free agents and at least one potential franchise star in the NBA Draft are up for grabs.

Think about that. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler will all sign new long-term deals somewhere, and some lucky team will claim Zion Williamson, and yet all eyes will remain on Davis, who won’t be a free agent until 2020. That’s how good Davis is, and how central he is to everyone’s championship hopes.

The Lakers, going forward, face a quandary: do they also focus on Davis, or do they try to build a contender around LeBron James some other way?

This equation is complicated and fascinating. The Lakers’ front office has to determine whether it can trust the Pelicans’ front office to act in good faith after New Orleans apparently pulled a do-si-do on L.A. at the deadline. It also has to determine whether it thinks it can reasonably beat the Celtics in a bidding war, factoring in that Davis’ camp has indicated he does not wish to re-sign in Boston, a fact that will probably affect the Celtics’ offer. There are other suitors to worry about, as well, including teams that Davis’ camp has indicated the superstar would re-sign with in 2020.

The Lakers have to decide whether it’s simply better for Davis to go to the Celtics and then try to poach him in 2020. L.A. wouldn’t be able to make that happen, but it could influence the eventual outcome through its offers and its posturing.

The Lakers also have to decide when to pull the plug on Davis and chase other high-end players instead. You have to wonder if the Lakers missed opportunities to improve the team around LeBron at the trade deadline. Are you telling me that offering up one of the L.A. prospects for Kemba Walker wouldn’t have drawn the Hornets’ attention? This isn’t a critique — you can’t criticize front offices for mythical deals pulled from the ether with no basis in reporting — but the question lingers whether the Lakers pulled any threads not attached to Davis’ jersey, and if they did not, if that singular focus cost them a player who could have made the playoff chase a little easier.

If Davis isn’t traded by the night of the NBA Draft in June, at what point this summer do the Lakers turn away from trade talks and focus on trying to recruit Durant, Kyrie, Kawhi, Kemba, or DeMarcus Cousins? One of the Lakers’ strongest assets that isn’t mentioned often enough is their cap space. Not every team has the ability to soak up Solomon Hill’s contract. But the Lakers could sacrifice their ability to offer that to the Pelicans by committing to free agents on July 1. If Davis isn’t traded by then, how will L.A. play it?

Will the Pelicans string the Lakers along just to exact a little more pain, knowing every day of hope for a Davis trade could make L.A. a little worse over the long term? Is this feud that personal for the Pelicans front office?

Does LeBron’s desire to play with Davis exceed his displeasure at being so low in the West pecking order? In other words, would LeBron prefer keeping the Lakers’ powder dry to sign Davis as a free agent in 2020 if it meant having a 2019-20 season as mediocre as this 2018-19 season has been? What’s better for LeBron’s goals, whatever those may be: a title contender in 2021 and 2022 with perhaps two missed postseasons leading up to it, or a better supporting cast in 2020 with a reduced chance at getting Davis in free agency?

Do the Lakers, through LeBron and Rich Paul, actually know what Davis wants and how likely he is to remain committed to the project of joining L.A.?

Having Anthony Davis want to be on your team is a blessing, but the position the Lakers are in is a curse. Another season like this one seems unbearable, and the Lakers will need to decide this summer — if it’s not decided for them — whether the chase is worth the interim misery.