NBA: Anthony Davis, Lakers agree on a three-year, $308 million extension

Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis . Photo / AP

NBA superstar Anthony Davis is under contract to the Los Angeles Lakers for the next five seasons, after agreeing to an extension that comes with the highest per-season average salary in league history.

Davis and the Lakers have agreed on a three-year, US$186 million (NZ$308 million) contract extension, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul said Friday. ESPN first reported that the Lakers and Davis struck the deal.

At an average value of US$62 million (NZ$102 million) per season, the extension becomes the richest annual agreement in league history, surpassing the average of $60.8 million per season that Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown got last month as part of his five-year supermax deal worth up to US$304 million (NZ$503 million).

Davis is an eight-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection and was picked to the league’s 75th anniversary team. He is coming off a season in which he averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists on a career-best 56% shooting — numbers that represent one of the best years of his career.

The deal takes effect with the 2025-26 season. Davis will make about US$40.6 million this coming season, then $43.2 million in 2024-25 — before the extension kicks in and carries through 2027-28. It will push Davis’ career on-court earnings to roughly $500 million by the time the contract expires, and in the final three years of the deal he’ll make about $750,000 for every regular-season game on the Lakers’ schedule.

The Lakers are 117-77 (a .603 winning percentage) in regular-season games in which Davis has played during his four seasons with the club; they’re 53-60 (a .469 winning percentage) in the 113 games that he has missed in that span.

When healthy, he and LeBron James are still one of the most formidable 1-2 punches in the NBA. They led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title and helped the team reach the Western Conference finals this past season — where they were swept by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets.

“We are trending in the right direction,” Davis said when last season ended. “Obviously, the goal is to win championships, and we wanted to be not just knocking on the door but actually get it done, walk through the door. So that’s our goal. That’s our goal every time we step on the floor for training camp, and I’m 100 percent sure that will be the goal next year.”

Over his first 11 seasons, Davis has averaged 24 points and 10.4 rebounds. He has scored at least 50 points in a game five times, not counting the 52 points he had in the 2017 All-Star Game — which was a record until Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored 55 in the All-Star Game this past February.