Lakers guards Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope also expected to decline player options for next season
Friday 16 October 2020 07:19, UK
Anthony Davis plans to opt out of his $28.7m player option for next season and re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to reports.
Davis will meet with his agent, Rich Paul, in the coming weeks to come up with a multi-year contract term best-suited for the 27-year-old megastar, per a report in The Athletic.
Davis averaged 26.1 points in his first year with the Lakers, which ended last week with another NBA title for the franchise but the first for the eight-year player out of Kentucky.
The power forward, who has also been deployed as a center, is averaging 24.0 points and 10.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game for his career.
Davis and the Lakers have been installed as early favourites to repeat as NBA champions in 2021.
The Athletic also reported that Lakers guards Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are expected to decline player options - worth $2.7m and $8.5m respectively - for the 2020-21 season.
Both Caldwell-Pope and Rondo could re-sign with the Lakers, as Los Angeles may look to keep most of their core intact after winning their 17th NBA championship on Sunday.
Caldwell-Pope, 27, just finished his seventh NBA season, and third with the Lakers. He has averaged 11.6 points per game during his 539-game NBA career, and this season shot a personal best 38.5 per cent from three-point range.
Caldwell-Pope was the Lakers' third-leading scorer in the NBA Finals with 12.8 points per game, checking in behind superstars LeBron James and Davis.
Rondo, a four-time All-Star and now two-time NBA champion, also helped his stock in the playoffs as he became the Lakers' second-best distributor and gave James a break from orchestrating the offense.
Rondo, 34, has averaged 10.2 points and 8.3 assists per game over his 14-year NBA career, which has spanned six different franchises, including the Boston Celtics (2006-14), the Dallas Mavericks (2014-15), the Sacramento Kings (2015-16), the Chicago Bulls (2016-17), the New Orleans Pelicans (2017-18) and the Lakers (2018-20).
