EDITOR’S NOTE: On Aug. 4, 2023, Davis signed a three-year contract extension through 2028. Click here for the full, record-setting terms of the deal.
The Lake Show didn’t just trade major assets for AD — they handed him a serious extension. Boardroom looks at the numbers behind the Lakers’ Anthony Davis contract.
Anthony Davis may have missed out on All-NBA honors for two straight seasons, but he is still widely considered to be one of the most talented players in the league — and rightly so. The biggest question the former No. 1 overall pick has faced throughout his career regards whether he can stay healthy throughout a full season.
The Los Angeles Lakers clearly thought so when they traded a gigantic package to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for his services. After helping to propel the Purple and Gold to the 2020 NBA title in the Orlando bubble, Jeanie Buss and Co. quickly inked him to a lucrative five-year, $189.9 million veteran max extension at 30% of the salary cap.
Unfortunately, the last two seasons in LA have not been joyous. AD has been an All-Star eight years running and is vital to the team’s success when he’s on the floor, but he’s only played in 76 regular season games since hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Plainly and simply, this team will need a healthy Davis in order to return to the postseason and make another title run in 2022-23.
With that in mind, Boardroom takes a look into the details of the Lakers’ hefty Anthony Davis contract.
Anthony Davis Contract Details & Salary
All dollar figures via Spotrac.
Years: 5 (fifth year is a player option)
Total value: $189,903,600
Average annual value: $37,980,720
Free agency: 2024 or 2025
Annual contract extension salary earnings:
2020-21: $37,742,000
2021-22: $35,361,360
2022-23: $37,980,720
2023-24: $40,600,080
2024-25: $43,219,440 (player option)
This season marks Davis’ 10th as a pro, and the one during which he’ll turn 30 years of age. Now in the middle season of his five-year max extension, the goal must be to regain the form that saw him earn All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive Team honors four times each.
In 40 games last season, Davis hovered near his career averages of approximately 24 points and 10 rebounds per game, and though his natural position on the court is power forward, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has said that he believes the current build of the Lakers is at its best when AD plays center.
That naturally brings with it an increased physical toll — it’s up to the player to signal whether LA’s new head coach is right on the money.
Anthony Davis’s Career Earnings
TOTAL NBA EARNINGS THRU 2022-23: $226,008,314
ESTIMATED SALARY EARNINGS THRU 2024-25: $309,827,834 (includes exercising player option)