Rumor: Suns Being Linked to Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis in NBA Trade Speculation

Are the Lakers going to trade big man Anthony Davis?

LeBron James was being linked to the Phoenix Suns in some NBA trade speculation, but that was all prior to him signing a contract extension with the Lakers, which obviously ended all that chatter. Now the Phoenix Suns are being linked to one of LeBron’s best teammates in trade talks. Heavy.com reported earlier this week that a Western Conference executive could see the Lakers trading Anthony Davis to the Suns for a package including Deandre Ayton and Cam Johnson.

Via Heavy.com:

“Phoenix would be an interesting fit too, once Ayton can be traded,” the executive said, according to Deveney. “They could do Cam Johnson and Ayton, something like that. I am sure some in L.A. would expect a big return for Davis but with the injuries the last few years, it would be tough to trade him. There’s a lot of reasons why they’d keep him but that is one – you’re not going to get fair value because of the injuries.”

Since Phoenix matched the Indiana Pacers’ offer sheet for Deandre Ayton, the Suns big man can’t be traded until Jan. 15.

NBA writers speculated about a potential Lakers and Suns deal following the initial report:

Heavy.com’s Austin Boyd couldn’t see a trade between the Suns and Lakers happening.

“The Lakers worked hard to get Davis on the team and worked out great at first,” he wrote. “He was excellent in his first year in Los Angeles and helped lead the team to a championship. He won’t have the same longevity as LeBron but he can still be an elite player for several more years. There’s no reason to trade Davis right now. They wouldn’t get fair value with him and he still forms an elite duo with LeBron. Now, this season is very important. If he has another injury-plagued year, the team might have to reevaluate his status but they’ll give him a year under Darvin Ham to turn things around.”

Fansided’s Peter O’Keefe wrote that a trade between the Lakers and Suns would be a lose-lose situation.

“He’s also incredibly unlikely to be traded anytime soon, with constant injury troubles reducing the value of the former number one overall pick,” O’Keefe wrote. “That means the Lakers simply won’t get anywhere near the value of what they believe internally, and of what general NBA fans believe when he’s up and going. It’s these same injury issues though that would cause Phoenix, or any other team for that matter, to be hesitant in trading for the 29-year-old. If you were guaranteed 65+ regular season games and a full playoff run, then yes you would make a deal of this nature. Even then, Ayton is still young and has individual growth to make, whereas we’ve likely seen the best of Davis already. The latter has also shown a clear preference to play as a power-forward rather than a center, so throwing him in as a direct replacement for Ayton is fraught with danger. The only way this happens is if circumstances change on each side. Maybe if the Lakers continue to struggle and eventually blow it up into rebuild mode, which probably won’t happen for 2-3 years if it were to. Plus, from Phoenix’s perspective, the relationship between Ayton and the Suns would need to sour to the point of becoming untenable.”

Sounds more like off season wishful thinking than anything else. The Lakers aren’t giving up on AD  just yet.

When healthy and motivated Davis has proven he can be a top 5 player in the league.

Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!