After drafting Duke point guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Cavs have no use for Davis and would love to rid themselves of the $30 million remaining on his contract, 75 percent of which wouldn't count against the cap based on the prospective new labor deal.
ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting that the Lakers, New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats are all distinct possibilities for Davis should the Cavs release him. While the Lakers would likely have to move some assets around to make it happen as their cap number is at $91 million, the move would make perfect sense.
For one, the Lakers are in dire need of a true point guard to run the show. Derek Fisher has been that guy, but he's getting up there in years and would probably be best served in a reserve role at this point. The same can be said for Steve Blake as well.
Davis isn't the player he once was, but he has experience and still has plenty of gas left in the tank as evidenced by his play with Cleveland down the stretch last year. On top of that, Davis' hometown is Los Angeles and he is familiar with the surroundings as he played for the Clippers.
The Lakers showed in the playoffs last season that they were missing something. Part of that was a lack of physicality on the interior from Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, but Los Angeles is very light on quality perimeter players aside from Kobe Bryant.
Davis would be an ideal running mate for Bryant, as he is capable of distributing to the hot hand or taking it upon himself to score the basketball if Bryant is mired in a shooting slump. Whatev...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
