Anthony Davis declines Lakers’ in-season offer for max contract extension

The summer of 2020 will be a big one for Anthony Davis.

The current Los Angeles Lakers forward is in essentially the final year of his contract, as he’ll ultimately decline the option year for 2020-21 and become an unrestricted free agent in July, and his next deal will likely be one of the richest in NBA history.

However, Davis did have the option to go ahead and sign a max contract extension with Lakers now, ending any mystery as to where he’ll be playing for the foreseeable future. He just became eligible to sign a max extension this week.

But while Davis will probably end up re-upping with the Lakers, he did just decline their max contract offer, according to Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes.

The Lakers offered their star forward Anthony Davis a four-year, $146 million max extension on Tuesday, but they were informed that he will be bypassing an in-season extension in favor of entering unrestricted free agency in July, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Haynes added that “No one within league circles anticipates Davis leaving the Lakers after one season.” Still, this does leave the door ever so slightly ajar for Davis to leave if he sees a better situation with another team this summer, but the smart money is on him being a Laker for the next 5+ years.

The former Kentucky Wildcats star and NCAA champion is averaging 27.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.6 blocks per game with a PER of 29.00, the third-highest mark of his career. His current contract has paid him an average of $25.4 million, but his next deal figures to pay him well over $30 million annually in the five-year, $168 million range, depending on if he signs the full max.

Get them paychecks, big fella.