Lakers offering Pelicans two of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac with Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first-round pick for Anthony Davis

Lakers offering Pelicans two of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac with Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first-round pick for Anthony Davis

Lakers offering Pelicans two of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac with Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first-round pick for Anthony Davis
NBA

Lakers offering Pelicans two of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac with Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first-round pick for Anthony Davis

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The Lakers reportedly gave the Pelicans their choice of two of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac, while also throwing Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first round pick into their offer for Anthony Davis.

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly made their first official offer for Anthony Davis and it’s nothing worth writing home about for the New Orleans Pelicans. According to Adrian Wojnarowksi of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic, it seems that the Lakers offered some combination of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and first-round pick to the Pelicans in exchange for Davis.

The first thing that stands out is how underwhelming that package is compared to the one that was reported on Thursday, which was rumored to involve Ball, Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Ivica Zubac and a first-round pick. In other words, it was an appropriate package for a superstar in his prime.

However, given the fact that the New York Knicks have taken themselves out of the running for A.D. in the immediate future and that Davis and his camp reportedly don’t see Boston as a long-term home, the Lakers might have been under the impression that they have some semblance of leverage in this situation. It would seem they were mistaken, unfortunately (for now).

While New York and Boston might not be landing spots for Davis right now, other dark horse, small market teams could be. For example, the Toronto Raptors could probably offer a package for Davis built around their own impressive collection of veterans and young talent. The difference in their package, though, would be that their veterans can play basketball at a high level.

The fact that the Lakers offered Rondo and Stephenson and not Kentavious Caldwell-Pope suggest that they consider a few players on the roster as untouchable. If not untouchable, then difficult to part with. That is not the way to secure Anthony Davis.

Luckily, this is only one of the Lakers’ first offers for Davis. Hopefully as the days go by, team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka get more serious with their offers. If not, it could be a pretty uneventful trade deadline.