It’s been four and a half years since Anthony Davis was traded to the Lakers.
We’ve seen some big trades since then, but that move remains one of the most seismic in recent history.
At the time of the trade, back in November of 2019, the consensus was that it was a good deal for the Lakers and a potentially great one for the Pelicans. The final grade would depend on what happened with all of the future picks they were given.
Most of those picks have now been conveyed, and we know what 90 percent of the return from that trade is.
How does it look in retrospect? Here’s what both teams would receive in a regrade.
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What did the Lakers trade for Anthony Davis?
Lakers get:
- Anthony Davis
Pelicans get:
- Brandon Ingram
- Lonzo Ball
- Josh Hart
- Three first-round picks
- One pick swap
What the Pelicans did with the Lakers’ assets
Let’s start with the draft equity that the Pelicans received.
New Orleans still has a future unprotected first-round pick from Los Angeles in either 2024 or 2025, which it will likely defer to a much stronger 2025 draft. The Lakers will probably still be a decent team, so that should fall somewhere in the middle of the first round.
The other Laker picks have all conveyed. In 2019, the Lakers gave up the No. 4 pick in the draft. In 2022, they gave up the No. 8 pick. The pick swap owed in 2023 ended up not being used.
Here is a list of the players that the Pelicans drafted or traded for with those Lakers picks:
- Jaxson Hayes
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker
- Didi Louzada
- Herb Jones
- Vince Williams Jr.
- Dyson Daniels
Original grades in the Anthony Davis trade
At the time, our Jordan Green gave the Lakers an A- and the Pelicans an A.
Greer wrote of Los Angeles that “there’s a reason this trade isn’t an A+++. The Lakers gave up a ton of assets, and the Pelicans will essentially control their drafts for the next half-decade.”
That warning ended up coming to fruition, as the Lakers handed over two top 10 picks to the Pelicans. The number could go up to three, depending on what happens in 2024 and 2025.
As for the Pelicans, Greer felt that Ball, Ingram and Hart were “intriguing prospects.” Greer added that the franchise made out like bandits considering the lack of competing offers being reported.
New Lakers grade in the Anthony Davis trade
For many in Laker Nation, this trade will always be a success given that the team won a championship with Davis in 2020. That undoubtedly would not have happened without him. He was outstanding in the bubble.
Put that championship performance aside, and Davis hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.
At the time of the trade, he was a 26-year-old MVP candidate. He’s certainly been a good player, falling somewhere in the top 15 most years, but health has been a major issue — he’s averaged less than 49 games per season since joining the purple and gold. His offense has also been very up-and-down, disappearing in crucial moments. And his jump shot has completely fallen off a cliff.
Davis is still a hugely impactful player due to his defense. He was named First Team All-Defense in 2020 and has been in consideration over the last few years. He’s a game-changer on that end of the floor, ranking No. 3 in defense in the entire league in our top 100 defenders project.
Davis’ up-and-down play reflects the Lakers’ results as a team over that period. They won that championship in 2020 and made the Western Conference Finals in 2023. They also lost in the first round of the 2021 playoffs and missed them entirely in 2022.
Since trading for Davis, they’ve gone a very solid 183-146, including 130-85 in games he’s played in. Those are nice results, but it’s not the multiple championships that Lakers fans may have envisioned.
The hope was that as LeBron James aged out, AD could take the reins as the best player of a new championship era. That likely isn’t happening. At age 38, LeBron is still the best player on the team. The pathway towards Davis being the best player on a championship squad, while possible, isn’t likely.
Still, the Lakers got pretty good results out of this trade and they can live with losing the pieces that they shipped out.
New Lakers grade: A-
New Pelicans grade in the Anthony Davis trade
The Pelicans have to be pretty pleased with the return from the trade. They were a team that was going nowhere with Davis as their best player, and that probably would have remained true had they kept him. Instead, they now have a much brighter future.
New Orleans didn’t bottom out quite as expected but lucked out in the lottery anyway and drafted Zion Williamson. Three other pieces of the starting lineup — Ingram, who has developed into an All-Star, CJ McCollum and All-Defensive candidate Herb Jones — can all be directly traced back to players or picks acquired in the deal.
It’s still too early to say how good Daniels can be, but he’s already one of the better perimeter defenders in the league and a solid passer. His shaky 3-point shot will be the big swing skill for him.
The Pelicans can still take a swing on a player in the loaded 2025 draft class, and they have a second-rounder incoming from the Bulls as part of a Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade.
The overall return that the Pelicans got was close to the apex that they could have expected. If they could go back in time and do the deal again, there is no doubt that they would in a heartbeat.
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