Although Anthony Davis made it clear that he wanted to play more power forward, he never thought it would lead to a trade away from the Los Angeles Lakers. So when Rob Pelinka was working behind the scenes with the Dallas Mavericks on the shocking deal for Luka Doncic and Davis was included, it probably left him surprised.
Any time a player is traded against their will or unknowingly, it likely messes with their emotions a little bit. Luka Doncic was very emotional in his return to Dallas and probably harbors some disdain for how the Mavericks have talked about him since his departure, but the Lakers want to make sure it's not the same with AD.
Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner and president of the Lakers, interviewed on SiriusXM and revealed that although she hasn't had a chance to talk to Anthony Davis yet, she plans to.
"I haven’t seen him face-to-face and I look forward to in the offseason," Buss said. "But you have to remember, he’s now under contract to another team. We’ve had too many instances of people accusing us of tampering, so I have to be really careful with stuff like that."
Davis was a key piece on the 2020 Lakers that won the NBA championship in the bubble, with Davis averaging 25 PPG and 10.7 RPG in the Finals. He was arguably the best Laker in that series, even if the Finals MVP went to LeBron James.
But it's important to the Lakers to keep good relationships with stars, as it keeps them at the top of most players' top destinations when they're requesting a trade or leaving in free agency. That's something that Jeanie's father, Jerry Buss, did when he ran the team.
