The Pelicans are in a difficult position after the trade request from Anthony Davis, but they still have the power to control when the deal will get done, writes Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated. There are three important dates to consider — the trade deadline on February 7, the draft lottery on May 14 and the start of free agency on July 1 — and New Orleans must determine the best time to move its star.
Woo states that trying to rush a deal by next week only works in favor of the Lakers, along with Davis and his agent, Rich Paul. L.A.’s best offer should still be on the table this summer, and waiting will give the Celtics a chance to become involved. Even if the Pelicans don’t plan to send Davis to Boston, they may be able to gain leverage by using that offer to get more from the Lakers.
The best options may come after the lottery, Woo writes. If the Mavericks, Wizards or another team with established talent lands the top pick, it could be motivated to offer that to New Orleans as part of a package for Davis.
- The Pelicans’ best 0ffer will come from the Celtics, contends David Aldridge of The Athletic. He states that a deal would have to start with Jayson Tatum, who could become a cornerstone player in New Orleans. The Pelicans might also ask for Jaylen Brown, but Aldridge believes the Celtics would prefer to keep one of their young talents and could offer Marcus Smart instead. Boston also has a wealth of draft picks, including a Grizzlies first-rounder that is top-eight protected this year, top six next year and unprotected in 2021, along with the better pick from the Sixers or Kings this year and possibly another first-rounder from the Clippers.
- The Pelicans may consider shutting Davis down for the season if he’s not traded before next Thursday, suggests Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Davis is sidelined with a volar plate avulsion fracture on his left index finger and is being re-evaluated every 48 to 72 hours. If surgery is necessary, it would be a way for the Pelicans to avoid any risk and be sure that they have a fully healthy asset for the trade market this summer.
- A team source confirms to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link) that the Knicks plan to get involved in the bidding for Davis. Their best offer is expected to come after the lottery when they know where they’ll be drafting.
- If the Lakers aren’t able to deal for Davis before the deadline, they will only have seven tradable contracts this summer outside of LeBron James, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (insider account). L.A. would have to use some of its projected $36MM in cap space to make the deal work and could include some of its free agents in a sign-and-trade arrangement, but only if they agree to go to New Orleans. Marks examines what several teams can realistically offer, including the Nuggets, whom he calls a “dark horse” in the Davis sweepstakes. Denver has a slew of young players and controllable contracts, along with a connection in GM Tim Connelly, who formerly worked for Demps in New Orleans.
- Writers from The Athletic break down the chances of acquiring Davis for every team in the league.
LeBron tampers, gets nothing. weeks later Davis only wants to play with the Lakers. hmm. when are these players going to realize playing with LeBron always ends poorly
Always?
As much as I dislike LeBron he does have a few championships.
Yup. NBA needs to investigate Bron big time. Especially into his communication with KD this past offseason. Bron even does it publicly. Then when questioned he threw a temper tantrum and everyone defends him. Classic Bron.
It’s legal
Ends poorly? I guess winning a championship is poorly lol. Ask Barkley how it feels to be as good as he was and to never win a championship. Ask KD how it felt not to win in OKC and then go to GS and win. Pretty sure winning a championship is all that matters to these guys and it feels great to win it. Far from poorly.
Arthur…that’s not how you spell Anthony
Holding on to him does 2 things. It decreases the value of the Pelicans 2019 draft pick and the possibility of him getting injured and getting nothing is there. If they dump the roster now they could get into the reverse lottery like the kings did in the boogey deal and it guarentees they get a package for ad
It’s quite likely they’ll shut him down if there’s no trade before the deadline, as O’Connor suggested.
It’s easy to look at Davis as the villain in this situation and accuse him of “holding a small-market team hostage”, but really the ineptness of Pelicans management and their failure to put a decent team around him is to blame. Trading seven first round picks in a row? How often do good players demand a trade from a winning team, even if it’s in a small market? Obviously the Kawhi situation in San Antonio is the rare exception.
He is just doing what LeBron asked him to do… Magic knows it’s happening too. I can’t wait for the NBA to investigate, block any trade to Lakers and penalize Bron and Magic.
Why do people think players can be penalized for asking another player about playing with them? Now if the team reps do the asking then it’s against the rules.
Pels did a horrible job since drafting AD in putting a foundation around him, no doubt.
That’s a reason to leave when his contract is up; not to diminish his value to his team during the term of his current contract. If he wants to advise the Pels FO ahead of time that he won’t sign an extension, then do that. But it’s a classless move to have your agent issue a public statement that’s the equivalent of calling his employer losers and the teammates that signed on to play with him suckers. How are the Pels getting the benefit of their bargain for the next year and a half after this? They’re not, and can’t.
Worse, was his self righteous claim that requesting a trade was all about winning, and then a day later indicating that he’ll only re-up with one team. So he lied. It’s not only (or primarily) about winning. It’s about forcing his way to one team; the consequences to the his current employer (and his contract obligations to them) be damned.
Who is Antohny Davis?
Artuhr Hill could tell you.
Arthur Morgan would be better.
The fact that the Pelicans said they aren’t going to rushed to deal him and the fact that they are asking for the league to look into tampering tells me that they aren’t happy that he’s trying to force his way to the Lakers and makes me think they won’t want to deal him to the Lakers and may try to deal him somewhere else in spite
Has LeBron decided who’s going to coach the Lakers yet?
rick patino’s been thrown around
T Lue done deal
Smart is trash celtics homer like david aldridge are delusional to think that those pick which will most likely be top ten not top 5 picks are worthless. Clippers pick top twenty….especially if the get kawhi even higher. There best offer is tatum and brown and i dont see them trading both if davis said he is gonna walk the following year. Then celtics would be stuck in another rebuild with only kyrie and a broken hayward getting paid 30 million a year.
I’m skeptical that you actually understand what picks the Cs have.
-Griz pick won’t convey and could easily translate into a top-5 pick
-The Clips aren’t getting Kawhi this season, so I don’t understand your point there
It’s okay, he doesn’t either!
The Griz pick is only top 8 protected.
They are currently the 6th worst team. But they’re only two wins behind the 11th worst team. So it could very well convey this year.
But if it doesn’t, and the Grizzlies continue to struggle, the pick is top-6 protected in 2020, and then completely unprotected in 2021.
If the Grizzlies pick top 5 this year and next, then they could be pretty good by 2021. Or they could be complete trash in a super deep draft.
The timing of when the pick goes to the Celtics (or whoever they send it to) is far from a sure thing. It’s a good asset – just not one that anyone should be relying on.
Two separate stories released 10 and 9 days in advance of the deadline, by different mediums and with different messages, but so clearly one purpose – push Pels into a non-negotiated deal with the Lakers before the deadline. If the Pels seriously engage with the Lakers after these amateur hour tactics, then it’s possible the Pels’ FO was in on it.
So if the reports of AD only being willing to sign with the Lakers is true, what are your thoughts on the Celtics going after Cousins and Bradley Beal? As a Celtic’s fan, I’m all in on AD, but not if he’s a rental..Can’t imagine Cousins and Beal would cost as much as AD..and I don’t believe the rumor that Kyrie wants to go to LA with Lebron and AD..thoughts?
Can the celtics afford to sign Cousins and trade for Beal, all while paying Horford, Hayward, and re-sign Irving? Not sure of financial situation in Boston. And they would undoubtedly have to trade Tatum and Brown for Beal. Is it worth it?
What are the odds the lakers lands AD? He plays half a season with Lebron n hates being blamed for every lose, and gets zero credit for every win? Oh wait it sounds like I’m quoting KD.. let’s see what matters must to AD bc right now it sounds like he wants top dollar to be a number 2 player, and odds are he’ll get sick of that far before his contract would expire in LAL.
Ahh I effed up I meant number one player ops!
Boston should offer Tatum, quickly, before GMs realize he is overrated. Then, they would storm through the playoffs with Davis. In the summer, they can choose between doing that again or flipping Davis to a team that could use him for one year to do the same.
Pels get him in the EC this way. They would be motivated to trade him to an EC team that has the best shot at keeping him from WC Lakers. Jrue will appreciate playing with Smart. They need to act fast though to gouge the Celtics. Trading over the summer reduces the flipping opportunity.
Roughly, 4Davis & 1Frazier for 3Tatum, 2Smart, 5Williams, 4Yabusele & a 1st. Checked. 2Ian Clark could replace Frazier or decline to.
1.Irving,Frazier 2.Rozier,Brown(IMO) 3.Hayward,Brown 4.Davis,Morris 5.Horford,Bynes,Theiss
1.Holiday,Payton 2.Smart,Moore 3.Tatum,Miller 4.Randle,Mirotic 5.Williams,JOkafor,Yanusele
NEVERMIND! BOS cannot acquire Davis until summer. I usually know that. ARGH, racing brain.
Well the opportunity exists for another team, even absent not being able to re-sign him. Two playoff pushes, or, one, then flip him & replenish what was given up.
Great plan except for the rose Rule (Designated Rookie Extension) but I most definitely agree Boston will end up with AD simply because they can put together the best offer. RP chatter about doing this now to help the Pels is disingenuous to say the least. He did it to give the Lakers/Lebron the open door to get AD. They want to dump Lakers junk on Pels then skate away with the Grand prize. Won’t happen. Pels can wait this out and should.
The Celtics can and should acquire him.
It would mean dealing away Kyrie – but that’s not a bad idea if it means landing AD.
After July 1 they could sign them both if Mr. Flat Earth still wants to be a Celtic. He may want to break more childrens hearts and go to LA to be with his big brother who knows how to run an organization. It takes a great deal of B Ball IQ to GM, coach & play like Lebron does. I am not sure if Ainge wants Kyrie now! Ainge is shrewd, dude.
Blazers or any team could trade for him for this year and then trade him in the offseason to get assets back. Pelicans know this so they are not going to trade him until the summer. A number 1 pick is not much when it is going to be the 20th player selected. The Celtics have the inside track. They can gamble that Davis will sign with them after winning a title with him as the MVP. Do not underestimate what a great town Boston is to live in. Bruins, Red Sox, the ocean, big little city. What is not to like ?
Snow, the people’s Republic of Cambridge, cold, over population, no 2nd amendment allowed, high taxes, horrible commutes, Malden, the accent, ummmmmmm