With a deep stash of high picks and promising young players, the Boston Celtics have always been regarded within the NBA community as the frontrunners for superstar big man Anthony Davis whenever he hits the trade market. The Celtics’ quiet the trade deadline only backed up this assumption that Danny Ainge and his front-office team are loading up for a gargantuan deal down the road.

In a recent episode of Open Floor Podcast with Sports Illustrated writers Andrew Sharp and Ben Golliver, one of the topics discussed was the possibility of the Los Angeles Lakers trading all their chips for Davis.

While it might look like a fan-fiction trade, Sharp argued that the Lakers actually have the pieces to counter or even better the Celtics’ package of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the unprotected Sacramento’s pick. He even made a bold claim that a package centered on former No.2 overall pick Brandon Ingram would be more enticing for the Pelicans largely because the Lakers’ forward has the highest ceiling compared to the other two players.

“You could make an argument that the Pelicans would want to just go extremely young and get a top five or top 10 picks from the Kings if they’re going to tear it down. Ingram looks like he’s more likely to be a star than Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. No shots at Celtics nation.

Sorry,” Sharp said on the show.

The UniBrow dream

For the Lakers, the dream scenario is to attract two max-level players this summer, presumably LeBron James and Paul George, and surround these superstars with the young pieces (Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and possibly Julius Randle) they currently have on the roster.

However, it wouldn’t be much of a shocker if the Lakers make a run at another superstar like Anthony Davis to form a power trio that could rival the Golden State Warriors’ dominance. Financially, the Lakers could still create space for a third max-level player, and it can be done by shipping the rookie-scale contracts of Ingram, Kuzma, and Hart to New Orleans in exchange for Davis.

The question now is will Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka compromise the team’s flexibility and future to create another super-team that would probably just have a four-year championship window because of LeBron’s age?

Critical summer

Both NBA pundits and fans will have a better grasp of the Lakers’ grand scheme of things in the coming months as they brace for a monumental summer. Los Angeles will be armed with enough resources in free agency after they created two max slots in last week’s trade that sent Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the expiring contracts of Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye, and the Cavs’ 2018 first round pick.

Should the Lakers end the curse of Shaq (the team hasn’t signed a top-5 superstar free agent since signing Shaquille O’Neal in 1996) and scored a grand slam by acquiring their top targets, the dream scenario of James, George, and Davis in one team could get real.

All it needs is a couple of huge deals and a little bit of imagination on the part of the Lakers’ front-office to pull it off. But until then, all of the Davis to Lakers buzz is nothing more than a pipe dream.
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