Ed Davis wants $ 7 Million per Year from Lakers
Former Tar Heel Ed Davis is a free agent this summer who would like to return to the Los Angeles Lakers. However he has a funny way of showing it. Davis signed a bargain basement deal last year in order to gain some play time amongst the rebuilding Lakers front court. After a year where Davis achieved career high averages per game, Davis now wants a raise.
More from North Carolina Tar Heels
- NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
- UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback
- Four North Carolina players selected in first round of MLB Draft
- UNC Destroyed by Coach Duggs and Tennessee in NCAA Football 14
- UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel star calls out Roy Williams
Davis made $1.1 million last year. He now wants to make somewhere between seven to ten million and stay with the Lakers. He averaged 8 points and 7 rebounds while splitting time with the likes of Ryan Kelly and Carlos Boozer. Rookie Julius Randle missed all season with an injury.
Boozer is off the books. So are Jeremy Lin, Wayne Ellington, Wesley Johnson, and Ronnie Price. This leaves the Lakers with some spending money, which is something Davis is clearly trying to take advantage of.
Davis may also be gambling on the lack of proven front court performers. Robert Sacre, Jordan Hill, and Ryan Kelly are the other posts under contract for the Lakers and none of them is terribly distinguished.
Davis’ defense offers something better with only the athletic Hill being comparable. Davis may also be trying to leverage that the Lakers do not know exactly how Randle will recover from his injury.
More from Old North Banter
- Carolina Panthers: Secondary battles to watch in training camp 2020
- Carolina Panthers: 2020 training camp kicks off on Tuesday
- NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
- Court alleges Zion’s Stepfather received $400k
- UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback
The problem that Davis will run into is that the Lakers are widely expected to take a big man with the second pick in the draft. That would seem to cancel any driving need for the Lakers to lock him up. Either Davis thinks they are secretly drafting DeAngelo Russell or something else is going on here. A newly minted Jahlil Okafor will cost less than seven million per season on his rookie deal.
So it looks to me like Davis is trying to find his way to a new team where he won’t have to worry about getting buried on the bench. A Lakers team with Okafor and a healthy Randle will have few post minutes to spread around for the others.