Anthony Davis is a Laker. That was quick

Ah, the NBA Finals ended three days early due to the Toronto Raptors winning in six. A week off until the 2019 NBA Draft (where there’s basically no drama for the first three picks anyway) and more than two weeks until free agency kicks off. Time for some cold beverages and a little time off from the internet and basketb--

IS THAT A WOJBOMB SIREN?

Yes, less than 48 hours after the NBA season ended up the Pelicans upended the league by trading Anthony Davis and a pocketful of good riddance to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, three draft picks and two draft swaps. Davis is now teamed up with LeBron James. Zion Williamson will get Lonzo to toss him transition lobs. It’s pretty beautiful altogether.

The Lakers are now a premier free agent destination, in all likelihood, and thanks to their basically totally empty roster outside of Bron, AD, and Kyle Kuzma, they can afford to add someone. It sounds like Kemba Walker is the top target.

Regardless of the Lakers’ explicit plans, the whole NBA has been upended by the confluence of things that have happened in the past week, this trade included (with a freaking bullet). You wonder if Rob Pelinka was pushed over the edge on offering all those picks by the terrible things that happened to the Warriors over the course of the Finals. The West is wide open, and L.A. is stepping into what looks something like a void.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans are well-positioned to be pretty, pretty good over the next few years without Davis, assuming they nail their draft picks.

Meanwhile meanwhile, set the coffee pot to infinite. It’s going to be a really, really wild six weeks, even thought the biggest domino has already fallen.

You can take issue with how he does business differently than other NBA agents. You can loathe the so-called player empowerment era he is synonymous with. But you can’t say Rich Paul does a bad job for his clients. Anthony Davis wanted to get traded to the Lakers to play with another Rich Paul client, LeBron. Anthony Davis got traded to the Lakers.

Eric Bledsoe wanted to get paid by the Suns, held out, and got paid by the Suns thanks to Rich Paul. Tristan Thompson wanted to get paid by the Cavaliers, held out, and got paid by the Cavs thanks to Rich Paul. Bledsoe wanted to get traded, and got traded thanks to Rich Paul.

Of course, dozens of other agents do their jobs, too, and typically without getting Sports Illustrated cover stories out of it. Just make sure you don’t lose sight of the fact that while he does it differently and with more visibility, Rich Paul does the job for his clients just about every single time.

Paul Flannery with a tremendous sign-off to the NBA Finals and the season, on the Raptors, who are champions because they refused to wait their turn.

I wrote an appreciation of the Warriors’ dynasty, whether it’s over or not.

Harry Lyles, Jr. brought the most crucial take: what the Raptors’ championship means for Drake.

Kevin O’Connor writes that the Pelicans are the NBA’s future.

Zito Madu praises Kyle Lowry. I’m as shocked as you are.

Bruce Arthur on Masai Ujiri.

Wonderful piece by Henry Abbott on sports science, the Achilles tendon, quick decisions, and knowing your own body. Remember that you can get all of Henry and his team’s content by subscribing to TrueHoop.

Six huge questions the Warriors must answer if the dynasty is to continue.

Howard Beck on what’s ahead for Kevin Durant.

Merch to celebrate the Raptors’ title. Personally, I’m going to wear one of those blow-up dinosaur costumes to brunch on Sunday.

Jonathan Tjarks on the new championship blueprint.

So, uh, how about them Celtics?

Four lucky Raptors breaks.

Apparently 16 million Canadians watched some or all of Game 6 of the Finals, with 10 million watching crunch time. Canada has about 37 million residents. Sheesh!

Be excellent to each other.