The Los Angeles Lakers continue to evaluate whether their current core around LeBron James and Luka Doncic can deliver another championship. The organization reshaped its direction last season when it traded Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks, a move that officially closed the chapter on Davis’ run with the franchise after he and James powered the team to a title in 2020. Lonzo Ball has words.
Years before that, Davis’ arrival in Los Angeles came through one of the most expensive trades in recent memory. The Lakers sent Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and multiple first-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans in 2019. Ball looked back on that deal this week and admitted he believes the Lakers could have taken a different approach, per Yahoo.
“Unpopular opinion probably though I feel like I could have played with D’Angelo Russell honestly. I think they should have just maybe just kept all these picks and just see how it would have went but I mean they still got the ring so, you know, worked out for them,” Ball said on the Ball in the Family podcast with Lonzo and Gelo Ball on YouTube.
Ball acknowledged the reality immediately. The Lakers reached the mountaintop in Davis’ first season. He still questioned what a young group built around him, Ingram and James could have grown into if the team avoided a blockbuster move. Ball currently plays a reserve role for the Cleveland Cavaliers, working his way through the next phase of his career while looking ahead to a reunion matchup against Los Angeles on January 28.
Ball and Nance Jr. Revisit KCP’s Notable Lakers Season
Later in the episode, Ball and Cavaliers teammate Larry Nance Jr. shifted to a story that resurfaced a forgotten moment from their early Lakers years, per ClutchPoints. They recalled Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s brief “work release” period during the 2017 to 2018 season, a situation that created one of the most unexpected side plots on a young roster.
Nance Jr. reacted as soon as the subject came up and reminded viewers how unusual the scene felt at the time.
“KCP is our guy. Look, KCP, we love him. We love him. That was real. That was real. That was real. That ain’t my story to tell, but like it was … I forgot about that, actually. I forgot about that until this very second,” Nance Jr. said.
Caldwell-Pope served a court-mandated sentence in a local detention facility but received clearance to take part in team activities. Restrictions limited his travel, yet he continued to practice and play in home games. Ball and Nance Jr. described it as a surreal period for a young locker room that already dealt with the pressure of a rebuilding Lakers era.
Cavaliers Teammates Reflect on Their Paths Back Together
Nance Jr. and Ball now share a locker room in Cleveland, even though their paths back to the Cavaliers look entirely different. Nance Jr. spent three seasons with the franchise from 2018 to 2021 before moving through Portland, New Orleans and Atlanta. Ball joined the Cavaliers this past offseason as he continued his recovery and fight to regain a consistent role.
Their shared history with the Lakers gives their conversations a natural ease, and the resurfaced memories highlight how much turbulence surrounded that stretch in Los Angeles. Ball’s reflections on the Davis trade sparked new conversation among fans, but he made sure to credit the Lakers for securing the result that matters most. The organization chased a championship, and James and Davis delivered one.
The Cavaliers visit from the Lakers in late January gives Ball another chance to reconnect with the franchise that drafted him and revisit the trade that shaped two franchises for years.
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