Recently, the Lakers completed a three-year, $186 million contract extension with their core insider, “Thick Eyebrow” Davis, ahead of schedule. Thick Eyebrow has two years left on his contract with the Lakers, and with an early three-year contract extension, he must play for the Lakers until at least 2028. More importantly, the season average salary of ‘Thick Eyebrow’ has surpassed the newly established Celtics player Brown, reaching $62 million, setting an NBA record. Considering James’ age and his contract with the Lakers until the end of the 2024-2025 season, the Lakers will focus on building a team around ‘thick eyebrows’ in the future.
The Lakers initially had a lot of trouble introducing ‘thick eyebrows’, but after a long conversation with the Pelicans, they finally achieved their wish. In order to obtain the “thick eyebrows”, the Lakers gave away Ingram, “Ball Brother”, Hart, and multiple draft picks at the time. After receiving the “Thick Eyebrow”, the Lakers finally received a reward in 2020. The strong collaboration between “Thick Eyebrow” and James finally led the Lakers to the top, which also proved the success of the Lakers’ team building.
Afterwards, the Lakers renewed their contracts with James and “Thick Eyebrow”, hoping to maintain this championship winning combination. However, by comparison, ‘Thick Eyebrow’ is the most important player for the Lakers to maintain sustained competitiveness in the future. James has entered the later stages of his career, and he also cannot rule out the possibility of leaving the Lakers in the following seasons. Although James’ contract with the Lakers runs until 2025, he has the right to decide whether to jump out of the contract early before the 2024-2025 season NBA.
In this situation, if the Lakers want to avoid the possibility of a complete reconstruction in the future, they must keep Davis on a long-term contract. Davis hit another career peak in the 2022-2023 season, with a shooting percentage of 56%, which is also a new career high for him. If ‘Thick Eyebrow’ maintains sufficient health, he will still be on the All Star rating.