A matchup against one of the league’s best teams and its best player should undoubtedly go a long way in persuading the Laker’s front office to end the inactivity that has defined them since the previous trade deadline if they are still compiling data before deciding how or whether to improve this roster.
The Lakers play Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night in Milwaukee (who will also reportedly have Khris Middleton back from injury as well). Giannis has consistently outperformed Anthony Davis in their previous encounters, but this is by far the latter’s greatest performance since the 2020 bubble, and if he wants to break that pattern, tonight would be a fantastic opportunity.
Observers will be curious to see how LeBron James manages tonight’s game. Even while he is presumably angry that his inept front office would need competence in order to make the changes required to compete, it is the reality of the situation. A humiliating defeat to Milwaukee on national television will serve as more evidence that Pelinka was maybe wrong to doubt James and Davis’ potential as a championship-winning team.
I could argue that forcing James and Davis to prove their value with a weak squad is backward and that it makes more sense to give them more skilled players expressly for matches like these. But hey, what do I know? However, Davis will need to perform better than he has in this game.
He only attempted an average of 18 shots and five free throws per game in two games against Milwaukee last season. He needs to be much more active than that tonight for the Lakers. Given the possible ramifications of the front office’s strategy, Davis’ degree of participation may help shape how the rest of the year plays out.
Aaron Larsuel and I chatted about this during an, hmm, eventful night on Twitter that I won’t go into more detail about here. We also continued a discussion that seemed to have been going on for more than a year about what the Lakers should do to at least give James and Davis a shot at competing for the championship.