The reason that convinced the Lakers to pay 186M to Anthony Davis revealed

The top priority of this summer for the Los Angeles Lakers was to secure the team's roster not only for the next season but for years to come. That's the reason why Pelinka brought back Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D'Angelo Russell but most important, locked down Anthony Davis until 2028.

LeBron James will continue to play in LA, at least until the 2024-25 season, but Pelinka and Ham are already thinking ahead of his retirement and have made sure to make Anthony Davis the face of the franchise after that happens.

Many in the NBA media and the fandom believe the Lakers should not have extended Anthony Davis because of his injury record. But AD's agent Rich Paul has opened up about why the purple and gold didn't think twice to extend the star with a three-year and 186 million deal.

“They understand AD and his work ethic has shown,” Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul said. “He has some injuries, but it wasn’t due to him not working. It’s not like he came into camp overweight or showed any laziness. There were just fluke things. That happens in the game.”

Anthony Davis' role in the future of the Lakers franchise

“[The Lakers] weren’t caught up in that,” Paul said about Davis’ injury history. “When you look at their style of play and what AD can bring to the table, it’s just something that was important to the team.” The Lakers GM Rob Pelinka later stated that Anthony Davis understands the leading role he is expected to have within the team.