Lakers will tank. Just wait for the inevitable "Davis hurt something and is out long term" and then they'll find ways to just blame Westbrook while Lebron chases his own records and doesn't really care about the team success either
Why tank? They don't own their pick. Well, they do, but the Pellies can swap. Tanking solves nothing for them.
OMG I'm an idiot lol. Thanks, I completely forgot they don't have their own pick 
They traded the farm for Davis. Seemed like a good deal at the time. The "tank strategy" for the Lakers is to finish with the exact same record as NOP. If they are worse, they lose the pick anyway. NOP is 6-5 right now. Ingram and Zion have missed a few games. If they can keep those two on the court, they are going to win games.
In hindsight is it a good deal?
They won a title, so the answer is probably automatically yes. But, Ingram + Lonzo + Hart + Dyson Daniels + 2023 swap rights + 2024 OR 2025 #1 is a heck of a package. I think the Lakers also traded away the rights to DeAndre Hunter in that trade.
If the Lakers weren't so incompetent the last 2 summers I don't think anyone would be talking about this, but the fact that the Lakers have so royally bungled the last 2 off seasons is why this is being questioned.
But the full trade was
Ingram
Ball
Hart
Isaac Bonga
Jemerrio Jones
Mo Wagner
#4 (which the Pelicans traded to Atlanta and moved back, while Atlanta took Hunter)
2022 1st - #8 - Dyson Daniels
2023 Swap
2024 or 2025 1st
If the 2022 1st ended up being the 20's and the 23 and future pick ended up being in the 20's, I don't think this sort of thing is really being discussed, but the Lakers so bungled basically every move since winning the title, they are giving the Pelicans high level draft capital still. That is the problem.
Never understood that Pelican draft day deal to move down from DeAndre Hunter for Jaxson Hayes and parts. Pellies could have had Zion and Darius Garland or DeAndre Hunter out of that draft. Just a dumb move.
Yeah it was strange, but Herb Jones did end up from one of the picks they got
Atlanta got - Solomon Hill (took his salary), 4 - Hunter, 57 - Bone, 23 2nd
New Orleans got - 8 - Hayes, 17 - Alexander-Walker, 35 - Louzada, and a future 1st (from Cleveland) which ended up being 2 2nds (Herb Jones and Vince Williams, Jr.)
I do think shedding Hill may have allowed the Pelicans to acquire Jonas or someone the next summer. The bigger issue was more who the Pelicans ended up drafting at 8. Had they gone with Rui Hachimura or Cam Johnson (or even a bit later lottery picks like PJ Washington or Tyler Herro), that trade looks differently. But even the Hawks missed on Garland instead opting for Hunter (which positionally made sense, but Garland was the higher rated prospect and the Pelicans likely would have taken him had they stayed there).
The other thing about that trade was, Atlanta also had the 10th pick. I think if I was New Orleans I would have tried harder for 8 and 10 and not settled for 8, 17, and 35.
