Anthony Davis reportedly plans to opt out of his contract and re-sign with the Lakers

When the Lakers traded for Anthony Davis last summer, they probably didn’t expect his first season to span over a year. They also couldn’t have guessed that he’d spend almost a quarter of his first season in Los Angeles at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.

Fortunately for the Lakers, it doesn’t appear those unusual circumstances have turned Davis off to the idea making a long-term commitment to the team. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Davis will opt out of the final year of his contract and try to work out a new deal with Los Angeles:

Davis plans to opt out of his $28.7 million player option and re-sign with the Lakers, sources tell The Athletic. Davis and his agent, Rich Paul, will hold meetings in the coming weeks to discuss the situation and the contract term that is most sensible for Davis.

Having this sense of reassurance is nice for the fans, but there was little doubt that he was going to return for at least another season. The lack of noise surrounding Davis’ impending free agency over the last year has been unprecedented — especially for a player of his caliber in a relatively weak free agency class — but it’s hardly been surprising.

Davis’ transition from New Orleans to Los Angeles was seamless, and while there’s no denying LeBron James played a huge role in that transition, Davis was also just the perfect star for the Lakers. If there was any doubt before, there shouldn’t be now: he’s a big market player.

Where things get interesting is the logistics of his contract. The Lakers would obviously love to sign Davis to a four-year, max contract, but there are factors that Davis and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, have to consider long-term — including, but not limited to, the affect the hiatus had on the salary cap and what the salary cap will look like in 2021, when Davis will be eligible for a 35% max contract.

That’s for the Lakers and Davis’ camp to worry about, though. For now, all Lakers fans have to worry about is whether they’re going to invest in the Davis No. 3 jersey or wait until Davis switches from No. 3 to No. 23.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.