The Pelicans have ended the chapter of the Anthony Davis era in New Orleans. The Pelicans have sent AD to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, three first round draft picks that include the 4th overall draft pick to this years draft, and two pick swaps.

The Pelicans decided to move Davis before the draft this week. This allows them to acquire the 4th draft pick in this years draft and have the potential to move that pick to receive more assets. As the new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin knows, draft picks have a lot more than a player just drafted. So, in order to fully maximize Ad’s trade stock, the best thing to do was to trade him before the draft on Thursday and shop that draft pick around and see if they can receive more future assets. There have been rumors that multiple teams have interest in that draft pick and are willing to trade up for it. Seeing as the Pelicans are in no rush to win this upcoming season and the wide range of talent after the top three players, the Pelicans best option might be to trade that pick to stock up on future draft picks.

Besides the draft pick this year, the Pelicans received a top 8 protected first round draft pick in 2021 that becomes unprotected in 2022, an unprotected pick in 2024, and first round pick swaps in the 2023 and 2025 drafts. This is where the Pelicans could cash in on this deal. The 2021 and 2022 drafts are the two drafts that executives in the NBA believe high school players will be able to go into the NBA straight out of high school resulting in one of those drafts being a loaded draft class. It would be a loaded draft class because you have a combination of the college players that were forced to go to college and the players that now have the ability to go to the NBA. Teams are reluctant to give up those draft picks because of that. Then the unprotected draft pick in 2024 is very enticing. More than likely, LeBron James will not be at full strength or retired come that time due to him being 39. So, the Lakers will not be the team that they are now unless they are able to acquire another young star. This idea goes the same for the pick swaps in 2023 and 2025. the Pelicans could capitalize on the trade come those years. Imagine having the young core they have now grow into good and great players around an older Zion Williamson and then also have a top ten draft pick. That might seem like a long time from now, but the Lakers could end up regretting throwing in those pick swaps in this trade for Davis.

In addition to the draft picks, the Pelicans were able to dig into the young talent that the Lakers have acquired over the past couple of years. The Lakers sent the Pelican Ingram, Ball, and Hart.

Brandon Ingram is the most enticing out of the three players. He has the most potential out of the three players to become an all-star and has shown flashes of just how good he can be. After a slow start to the season, Ingram started to come into his own when LeBron James went down with his groin injury. Ingram stagnated statistically this past season compared to his sophomore campaign, but was able to score two more points per game and get to the free throw line more often. The next step that Ingram needs to take in his skill set is improving his shot. Once he can shoot at an efficient rate Ingram will be a force on the offensive end of the floor.

The only scary part of Ingram is the uncertainty surrounded around his health. Ingram’s blood clot issue is one not to take lightly. Chris Bosh lost his career while he was in the middle of his prime. Ingram’s career can be over before it can ever really start. Hopefully, Ingram will return to basketball fully healthy and never have to return to this issue again. Nothing would be more sad than to see someone’s career come to an abrupt end because of an illness that they cannot control.

Next, Lonzo Ball is an interesting piece in this trade. Ball has an immense amount of talent and potential, but brings a lot of off court baggage with his father and a jump shot that has a long way to come to say the least. All of Lonzo’s numbers went down this season besides his field goal and three point percentage. At first, this seems like a trend in the wrong direction. But after some thought, any point guard that plays with LeBron will have a dip in numbers. So, I don’t think there is anything to worry about there. The real question is can Lonzo ever be an all-star talent in the NBA?

In my opinion, the answer is yes. I believe that the situation that Lonzo was in in LA was not the best one for him and his development as a player. Lonzo is a traditional point guard who moves the ball and likes to play quickly and push the tempo. For the Lakers, the tempo always seemed forced. LeBron is aging and would never be able to consistently keep up with the young players around him. Then, Lonzo was expected to be the typical LeBron James’ role player and spot up and shoot threes. That is not his game and most likely never will be. Lonzo needs to be in an offense where the ball moves and Lonzo has the ability to place with pace. Alvin Gentry has said before how much he admires Ball’s game. Place Lonzo with Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson in addition to his former Lakers teammates, I think he will do well offensively. Plus, Lonzo made strides this past season defensively and will most likely continue to improve his game on that end of the floor. Putting all of this together, I think Lonzo will transition well and be successful in the next chapter of his career.

Furthermore, the last player from the Lakers is Josh Hart. Hart is the player in the deal where they aren’t the center of the trade package, but I’m sure the Pelicans are glad to have him on the team. Similar to Ingram and Ball, Hart did not improve his numbers this past season. Actually, Hart’s numbers for the most part got worse. he scored less points on more attempts. But like Lonzo, I don’t think the numbers tell the full story. Hart’s talent wasn’t always used the best way because sometimes playing with LeBron doesn’t make your numbers look better. And that is not a knock on LeBron, it is just the truth. Sometimes it is hard playing with LeBron the same way it is playing with any superstars. But Hart is solid player and will make for a solid back up for Lonzo and Holiday in New Orleans.

The Pelicans have managed to speed up their rebuild by acquiring these players and draft picks from the Lakers. Drafting Zion Williamson puts them on the clock to contend for a title. By adding young players who have been in the league for a little time now, they can skip over the first couple years of growing pains and not being able to compete for playoff contention. Zion should be able to come in and be an immediate impact and the Pelicans might be able to compete for a playoff spot this year. It will be hard to make the playoffs, but the Pelicans definitely have the talent to do so. if they can add other key players and sign veterans to teach the young players how to win, the Pelicans will be headed in the right direction.

Now the Lakers. Arguably the most famous franchise in the league. They haven’t made the playoffs since the 2012-13 season. It is about time they return to the playoffs and title contention. They have one of the greatest players of all-time and just added another top ten player in the league in Anthony Davis. After the Magic Johnson drama and the fan protest outside of the Staples Center, the team has finally made a move that I’m sure Laker nation can get behind fully. They were able to acquire that second star next to LeBron and have catapulted their way to the best odds to win it all next year. Here is what their future plans should be.

The number one goal for them for the remainder of the summer should be adding an all-star guard that can handle the ball. The perfect player for this is Kemba Walker. Kemba is able to shoot the ball effectively from deep and doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time. This is the perfect guy to play with LeBron and AD. Kemba has the ability to score on his own have the offense run through him and has experience with that. The Lakers have enough salary cap room to offer him a max contract and should try their best to land him, but the fact that Charlotte can offer more money makes it hard to pull him away from the only team that he has been apart of in the NBA.

If the Lakers are unable to land Kemba, they have a couple options. They could try to land another forward and play Davis at center. This third player could be someone like Tobias Harris or Khris Middleton. These players don’t need the ball in their hands and do their best off the ball. Both of them could fit well next to LeBron and Davis.

The other player that is very much intriguing is Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler has made the news in the past for the wrong reasons and is a ball dominant guy who has failed to win important games and series. This does not mean that it has been his fault every time, but his lack of experience in the big time games could come back to haunt him. Additionally, Butler has never been one to hold back and not speak his mind. I doubt he would go into LA and try to tell LeBron what to do. But, he might not make tensions easier on the group. A trio of LeBron, AD, and Butler would be very talented, but I am not sure if I would want that combination of players on my own team.

In addition to adding another star, the Lakers need to add the appropriate role players next to LeBron and Davis. The clear thing they need most is shooting. The one player they could go after could be someone like Nikola Mirotic who is a big guy that can stretch the floor. Maybe they could go after a JJ Reddick. Anyone player that can shoot the ball well should be recruited by the Lakers this offseason.

However, the one thing the Lakers need is a team that can fit well together. The Heat and Cavs teams that LeBron was part of had a group of players that understood how to play together and meshed well with LeBron. These teams had veterans that knew what they needed to do to help the team succeed. That type of player is a player such as Pat Beverley. A smart and tough player that isn’t afraid of anyone or anything. Those are the type of players that the Lakers need. The Lakers need to redefine their culture and that starts this off season. Goofy guys such as Lance Stephenson and Javale McGee shouldn’t be added to the roster. This Lakers team needs to create a new kind of roster. Rob Pelinka has the responsibility of accomplishing that next month.

The Lakers have burned one year of LeBron. They cannot afford to burn another. Landing AD has helped position themselves to be a Finals contender for next year. They have the two most important puzzle pieces to a complex puzzle that they are trying to complete. Now, they need to find the smaller pieces that help finish the puzzle that they haven’t complete since Kobe completed it in two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.