Ed Davis excited to join Los Angeles Lakers
Last week, Memphis Grizzlies’ free agent big man Ed Davis agreed to a two-year, $2 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Davis surprisingly became an unrestricted free agent after the Grizzlies did not tender him a qualifying offer, which would have made him a restricted free agent. The move surprised some but the Grizzlies had to make a decision because both starter Zach Randolph and David could be free agents. After they signed Randolph to a two-year, $20 million extension, Davis knew his time in Memphis was over. Getting Davis for just $2 million seems like a steal, but he has a player option for the 2015-2016 season, meaning he can opt out after this year and test free agency again in 2015.
Although he obviously wanted more money, Davis is excited about joining the Lakers.
“I think it will be a great opportunity for me playing wise and I like the pieces that they have in place there,” Davis told Basketball Insiders. “Obviously, there’s the connection with my agent [Rob Pelinka] and Kobe [Bryant] and some of the guys who are there, so that had something to do with it. But I just thought that this would be a good opportunity for me to come in here, help this team win, compete and have sort of a new start to get rejuvenated.
Davis believes he found the “perfect situation.”
“I just wanted to find the perfect situation for this upcoming season and for the future,” Davis said. “I didn’t want to take a deal just because it was more money and it might look better – I really wanted to go somewhere that had a need for me and wanted me rather than just joining a team to fill out the roster. For me, it was really just waiting it out and seeing which team had the most interest and seeing where I could go to really help the team and get a chance to play.
Davis averaged 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game last season while shooting 53.4% from the field and 52.8% from the free throw line last season.