NBA Notebook: Could Lakers trade Anthony Davis to recoup draft picks?

After a Monday that saw all 30 NBA teams in action, clearing the way to allow folks to vote in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections, there are a number of storylines to follow around the league.

Here are a few to keep an eye on this week.

In the aftermath of the Brooklyn Nets parting ways with Steve Nash, there were reports that the club was turning to suspended Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka — something that now may be off the table again.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there are “strong voices” urging Nets owner Joe Tsai to reconsider bringing in Udoka because of the potential further unrest he might add to an already tumultuous situation in Brooklyn.

The basketball reasons for wanting Udoka are obvious as he’s a young, defensive-minded coach who just helped lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals last season. However, he was suspended by Boston before the start of this season for an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics staffer.

The expectation around the league is that Boston won’t be bringing Udoka back, hence his pseudo-free agent status, however, the report that the Nets were looking at Udoka was met with a lot of general disdain because of the nature of the situation that both Udoka and the Nets find themselves in.

Jacque Vaughn has taken over the reins in Brooklyn on an interim basis and has led the Nets to a 2-2 record after they began the 2022-23 campaign 2-5 before Nash was let go.

The two wins Brooklyn has racked up under Vaughn have come without all-star guard Kyrie Irving, who is suspended by the Nets indefinitely after he posted a link to an antisemitic film.

After much handwringing, Irving has since issued a public apology, but that all seems too little too late as he’s expected to meet with NBA commissioner Adam Silver Tuesday and has reportedly been given a list of items to complete before he might be allowed to return to the Nets.

NBPA vice president Jaylen Brown said the union is expected to appeal the suspension the Nets issued to Irving, but that isn’t likely to do much in the goodwill department — something the Nets have sorely been lacking in.

Hence why it makes sense that Tsai is likely holding off on pulling the trigger on Udoka. Bringing in more baggage and more fodder for others to dunk on the organization that you run isn’t a good look.

Even with Russell Westbrook playing much better as a sixth man, the Los Angeles Lakers still find themselves at 2-8, thanks to their league-worst offence, fueled by their league-worst three-point shooting percentage.

As LeBron James aptly put it, the Lakers "are who we are."

So, given how bad the Lakers have played, what’s the possibility that they look to dismantle what they currently have?

This is a tricky situation because they can’t entirely tank for Victor Wembanyama because the New Orleans Pelicans own a first-round pick swap with the Los Angeles this season from the Anthony Davis Trade — can you imagine what Wembanyama might look like playing with Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson?

But on the topic of Davis, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is hearing that he might be available in a trade.

This does make some sense from the Lakers’ perspective as any deal involving Davis would surely see them try to bring back the kind of future assets that they’ll need to move forward (draft picks and a good young player or two) but making a deal happen would be difficult.

Davis is still under contract until at least next season and has a player option for the 2024-25 season worth an estimated $43.2 million, something that he might seriously consider opting into considering his shaky injury history.

While still a tremendous player when he plays, Davis is a risky proposition for any potential suitors looking to acquire him. From Los Angeles’ position, however, he is probably its best trade asset and with things looking grim to begin the year the front office has to explore any possible avenues it can to improve.

Turning attention to teams that are actually performing well so far this season, but were you aware the Milwaukee Bucks are 9-1 and began the season on a nine-game winning streak?

With all the noise coming out of Brooklyn and Los Angeles to begin the season, good on-court stories like the Bucks have gone relatively unnoticed.

Milwaukee is, once again, destroying the league as it boasts the top defence, while Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing like an MVP once again, complemented by a supporting cast who were mostly all there when the Bucks won the title in 2021.

What Milwaukee’s doing is no fluke and should be paid attention to.

And the same can be said of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who boast the league’s top net rating thanks to their second-ranked defence and fourth-ranked offence. Donovan Mitchell has been everything the Cavs were hoping for and more as he’s seamlessly fit in as the leader Cleveland’s young talented players needed.

With that said, however, there’s an interesting what if with the Cavs had they opted to just run back everything they already had because of the surprising success of the Utah Jazz, who sit atop the Western Conference with a 9-3 record.

Cleveland, of course, made the deal with the Jazz for Mitchell, sending a boatload of picks plus Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji to Utah for the three-time all-star guard.

Agbaji hasn’t done very much but Markkanen leads the Jazz in scoring, averaging 21.9 per game, and Sexton is their third-leading scorer as the new guys that Utah acquired — including Kelly Olynyk, who was traded for from the Detroit Pistons and is shooting 58.8 per cent from three-point range on nearly three attempts per game — have changed their entire outlook. Now, what once looked like a roster built to tank for Wembanyama may instead become one that lifts the Jazz back into playoff contention.

As weird as it may be, Utah’s a legitimately good team, sporting a top-three offence and top-10 defence to begin the season. Don’t sleep on the Jazz.

Injuries are an unfortunate reality in any pro sport, but some hurt more than most.

In the case of the NBA this season, the groin strain that Pascal Siakam suffered, keeping him out at least two weeks, really sucks because of the fabulous start to the season he was having — looking every bit like the top-five player he said he was attempting to become before the new campaign began.

Also, for the Raptors as a team, as talented as they can be, playing without the designated bucket-getter and offence initiator that Siakam has become is going to make for some tough outings, something that could end up biting them down the stretch of the season as they jockey for playoff position in the competitive Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard’s right knee is still giving him issues and there’s no timetable for his return yet. Paul George has been brilliant, keeping the Los Angeles Clippers afloat, but Leonard has only played two games this season after missing all of last season.

At 31 years of age, Leonard should still have a lot of basketball left in him, but it’s undeniable it’s concerning how much time he’s missed so far.