Of course he did. Teams should consult their superstars, and that has long been what Lakers management has done going back to Magic Johnson.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka did a respectable job rounding out the Lakers roster considering what was left on the market once Kawhi Leonard made his decision to join the Clippers (with Paul George). Pelinka and the Lakers landed Danny Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, Quinn Cook, JaVale McGee, Jared Dudley, and others to go with Kyle Kuzma (a holdover from last season).
On a conference call with beat reporters, Pelinka confirmed LeBron James and Anthony Davis were consulted on the roster makeup. Via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.“But anytime as a general manager when you have superstars on your team, especially guys that have the basketball IQ and just the understanding of the game that Anthony Davis and LeBron have, of course, you are going to be tapping into them as partners.
“We view our relationships here with our star players here as partnerships. I know both Anthony and LeBron are excited about the 14 guys and how we are going to come together, and their input, both of their input, Anthony and LeBron, has been incredibly valuable to me.”
No doubt Davis was consulted on whether to sign Cousins, the two were teammates in New Orleans. If Davis had a problem with Cousins the signing would never have happened.
Pelinka and the Lakers rounded out the roster with players who bring some skills and experience to the table, but ones also who were available because of holes in their games. How Frank Vogel and coaching staff will hide the flaws and get players to play to strengths during the regular season will be an interesting chess match.
This Lakers roster may be better built for the playoffs than the regular season, if they can keep everyone healthy.