Anthony Davis, Lakers agree on a 3-year, $186 million extension

FILE - Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) dunks against the Denver Nuggets in the second half of Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western Conference Final series May 22, 2023, in Los Angeles. Davis and the Lakers have agreed on a three-year, $186 million contract extension, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, because the team had not announced the deal being finalized. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — 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 NBA history.

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

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At an average value of $62 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 $304 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 $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.

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 eventual champion Denver.

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.