But it was otherwise a colossal disaster for the Nets, and one of the most mocked trades in league history. Absent draft picks and the ability to build around youth, the Nets had the payroll of a contender while enduring four straight losing seasons — a run of futility that didn’t end until this season thanks to the patient craftsmanship of General Manager Sean Marks and Coach Kenny Atkinson.

The Lakers, though, could not afford to be patient, and everyone knew it, including the Pelicans, a team swimming in leverage. James exerted a unique pressure on the Lakers to win now, to trade for another top-shelf star, no matter the long-term costs. And those costs could be significant. Are they worth it? That depends.

Unlike Pierce and Garnett, who were in decline when they joined the Nets, Davis is an ascendant star at 26. He will presumably be one of the faces — and then the face — of the Lakers for years to come. But the Lakers will be leaning on free agency to round out their roster well into the next decade, a perilous strategy.

As for the James-Davis pairing, the championship dream hinges in large part on whether James can maintain his ultrahigh level of play. He has spent the later part of his career defying the corrosive effects of playing in so many games over so many long seasons. He will enter next season, his 17th, as the league’s active leader in minutes played. Consider that this past season, just five players from his draft class were active — including Dwyane Wade, who just retired, and Carmelo Anthony, who might as well.