Lakers News: NBA Experts Debate Anthony Davis' Trade Value

The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo discussed just how valuable Lakers big man Anthony Davis is.

It's been a while since Lakers superstar Anthony Davis was linked to any trade rumors. For a small stretch in the spring, analysts were debating whether or not the Lakers should explore trading the eight-time All-Star. By all accounts, LA has absolutely zero plans of shopping Davis.

The Ringer's Bill Simmons recently released his annual trade value list. The rankings serve as an exercise in what top NBA players would be worth in theoretical trades based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: age, current contract, and current salary. To echo Simmons' warning, it is not a player rankings list. 

Simmons, despite his deep Boston Celtics fandom, slotted Anthony Davis in at number twelve among Group D - "True Franchise Guys".  

In his podcast, Simmons explained Davis' ranking.

"I thought about the bubble and the playoffs, and how important he was for a lot of that time. He had a chance, I think if he would have had a killer closeout in game six, I think he was going to win Finals MVP. I think there was a real argument about how the torch has been passed from [Tim] Duncan to him."

Even with Davis' injury history, Simmons isn't ready to sell Davis' stock short.

"It's still year 11 for him. We have a lot of time to go...I feel like the journey, I'm just not ready to write him off as a top 12 guy yet. I do think if they dangled him, he'd have an incredible amount of value. There's just not a lot of people like him."

Russillo added that if the Lakers did decide to explore trade opportunities, it would probably inevitably lead to the Lakers front office quickly reconsidering. 

"If you have to start asking yourself, well how well would we do, then you keep him."

Even for the most pessimistic of Lakers fans, LA still has one of the best players in the league in Anthony Davis.