Anthony Davis Reportedly Wants To Return To Lakers, But A Reunion Is Unlikely

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn ImagesWashington Wizards star Anthony Davis spent five and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, and it appears he might want a reunion. Brian Windhorst recently appeared on ESPN LA’s The Sedano & Kap Morning Show, where co-host Scott Kaplan told him he’d overheard reporters in the media room at a Lakers game talking about Davis wanting to come back to Los Angeles.“They don’t realize I’m listening and I’m hearing what they’re saying,” Kaplan said. “[One of them said], ‘I hear that Anthony Davis wants to return to the Lakers.’… I think they’re credentialized. I think they know what they’re talking about. They assume I have no idea. But Windy, could Anthony Davis… We always talk about another big man for the Lakers.“A, have you heard it?” Kaplan continued. “And B, is there a world where that could happen?”Windhorst rightly pointed out that Kaplan was talking about gossip in the press room. As for whether Davis and the Lakers could reunite, the 48-year-old doesn’t see it happening.“Very unlikely,” Windhorst said. “Anthony Davis is one of the bigger question marks in the league this year. There’s like three guys we’re watching, sort of star-level players about will they get traded. One is Anthony Davis, one is Kyrie Irving, Domantas Sabonis is on there. All of them are in the same boat.“All of them have options in their contract for next season,” Windhorst continued. “… The Wizards basically said, ‘We want to see Anthony Davis play 20 to 30 games, see how he fits with our group, and then we’re going to revisit about whether we want to give him a contract extension.’ Obviously, if they give him a contract extension, he agrees to it, he’s not being traded.“If he doesn’t get a contract extension, then I think you’re going to see his name out there on the trade market,” Windhorst added. “But here’s the thing. The Lakers just don’t have much high value things, forget about Anthony, just for any for any star player. They just don’t have much to trade. They’ve traded all of their picks for the most part.”Even if we ignore the lack of assets aspect for a bit, Davis is making $58.4 million in 2026-27. The Lakers won’t be trading Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, or Walker Kessler to the Wizards for him, which makes matching salaries a very difficult task. They only have three other players making over $10 million in 2026-27: Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Their combined salary is $39.3 million.The Lakers would have to give up most of their quality role players to get to $58 million. Even if they decide to do that, the Wizards would then have to see enough value in those players to send Davis to Los Angeles.The Lakers also gave up two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to get Kessler from the Utah Jazz in the summer, so a 2032 first-round pick swap is the only valuable draft asset they can include in a package. So, you struggle to see a trade here.Another route you’d think of would be Davis declining his $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 and joining the Lakers as a free agent. The issue there would be that he’d have to take a massive pay cut, and he reportedly wants a near-max contract. You just don’t see an avenue.Now, would Davis be a good fit with the Lakers? Absolutely. The 10-time All-Star always spoke about the Lakers needing to add a starting center during his time there so that he could play power forward. Well, Kessler is there now, so Davis, an NBA champion with the Lakers in 2020, won’t have to play center. The 33-year-old would also address some of their defensive woes.Davis, whom the Lakers traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic in February 2025, is averaging 23.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game for the Wizards in 2026-27. He is still playing at a high level, but injuries remain a concern. That’s just another reason why the Lakers probably shouldn’t be interested in a reunion.