Like last year, general manager Mitch Kupchak and the front office clutch a top-five pick in the upcoming draft. This is a necessity for championship contention these days as deep teams like the Golden State Warriors run star-focused teams ragged.
Also like last year, though, is the desire to reel in major free agents if the fit makes sense.
With the draft this week, most of the recent news coming from out West focuses on the Lakers' first major offseason step. There, the team will decide the course and stick to it, for better or worse. Here's the latest.
Ed Davis' Future
One of the first orders of business for Los Angeles focuses on forward Ed Davis, a critical piece of depth underneath the basket given the injury to Julius Randle last year and the potential departures of Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill.
At 26 years old, Davis seems like a player worth keeping at most costs after he posted 8.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game last year with a player efficiency rating of 20.00, per ESPN.com.
Now for the good news—Davis wants to return.
“I definitely want to be back,” Davis said, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “With everything being equal, I’m 100 percent going back there. Hopefully that’s the case. But with free agency and all the stuff going on with the draft, you never know how things are going to go.”
So what could be the bad news? The asking price, of course. Per Medina, who spoke with sources, it could range in the neighborhood of "$7-8 million a year, or a one-year deal worth $9-10 million."
It seems a larger asking price than Kupchak and the Lakers may be willing to commit, especially if the front office grabs Ja...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
