In this small-ball era, the inside player with the ability to open up space can be said to be a must-have puzzle for every team, especially the player who also has the ability to stabilize the inside line. And after the Lakers' failure this season, Anthony Davis seems to be on the shelf.
Of course, even if Anthony Davis may be put on the shelves, it will be difficult for any team to push the Deal involving Davis with the Lakers. According to the US media James Pearsey, the Raptors can try to promote the transaction involving Anthony Davis through two major solutions:
Scenario 1:
The Lakers got: Fred VanVleet, Gary Trent Jr
Raptors get: Anthony Davis, 2027 first-round draft picks
Scenario two:
The Lakers get: Pascal Siakam
Raptors get: Anthony Davis, 2027 first-round draft picks
In the above two deals, the Lakers need to sacrifice another future first-round draft pick to return valuable players from the Raptors in the case of sending Anthony Davis.
Even though Anthony Davis is an All-Star player, his unstable form over the past season and his injury history are important reasons for the decline in the value of his trades. If the Lakers can swap back VanVleet and Trent, or Siakam in the above trade, this will indeed allow the Lakers to build a more competitive lineup for James.
So if the Lakers still want to build a championship lineup around LeBron James and are worried about Anthony Davis' vulnerability to injury, putting Davis on the shelf and pushing for both deals would indeed be a good choice.