The Lakers are fighting an uphill battle to finalize a deal for Anthony Davis before the trade deadline, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports. There’s significant support within the Pelicans organization to retain Davis for the remainder of the season and revisit trade talks during the offseason, when several new and different scenarios would be available to them, Wojnarowski adds.
The Lakers are growing increasingly pessimistic the Pelicans will make a deal with them, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN tweets.
The Lakers upped the ante on Monday in their zeal to acquire Davis, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2020. They are presently offering the Pelicans a package built around three young starters — Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball— and two first-round picks. They’re also willing to take on Solomon Hill‘s contract, which runs through next season.
Los Angeles president Magic Johnson had multiple phone conversations with New Orleans GM Dell Demps on Monday. Davis expanded his list of teams that he’d consider signing with in the long term besides the Lakers, including the Bucks, Clippers and Knicks. But the Clippers and Bucks have yet to make offers for Davis and the Knicks haven’t contacted Demps since trading Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas, league sources told Wojnarowski.
The Celtics remain anxious to trade for Davis during the offseason and pair him with Kyrie Irving, though their plan to pursue Davis remains unaffected by whatever Irving might do in free agency. The Celtics remain confident they’ll re-sign Irving, Wojnarowski adds.
New Orleans is hopeful the Celtics might include their top young player, Jayson Tatum, along with a package of first-round picks. By waiting past the deadline, the Pelicans would also have a better idea what type of first-round picks the Celtics could convey to them.
If the Pelicans don’t take that Lakers deal they’re crazy. If the Lakers don’t stop trying to take shortcuts to build a championship team by trading young players on rookie deals AND multiple first round picks they’re stupid. If they get Davis and he or LeBron James get hurt, they will have nobody left around them to step up. Those 1st round picks will become top 5 picks and it’s back to exactly the same situation they were in after they got Nash and Dwight.
I disagree. They already watched pg go elsewhere and play at an mvp level..Ingram has shown little improvement in 3 years..Kuzma anemic on 1 end of the floor and isn’t consistent enough offensively to make up for his lack of defense and zo is oft injured and has a lot of question marks. This is a chess move. You get AD in your building with a max slot this summer, and hopefully bring in a guy this summer and build your roster out. Nobody beating golden state this year regardless what you do at the deadline
Ingram has improved a lot?!? He’s still really young. Kuzma has improved a lot on defense too.
I agree with Jordan here
Can those young guys become all stars? Sure..but Lakers window closing with bron being 34..and at least after you can continue building with a generational talent in AD
Both of you guys have great points and the Lakers basically made it so that they have to acquire other star by any means possible the moment they signed Bron. Patience goes out the window when you have the best player in the league and fans expect a championship. In my opinion, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not a smart way to build a team. Wade, Bron, and Bosh all took discounts in Miami to make that work and there were still a lot of productive veterans willing to take the minimum to join them. This time Bron has a max contract, and Anthony Davis is going to demand a max as well. Star players in their primes nowadays are much less likely to take anything less than that and there aren’t as many ring chasing vets left who can still play at a high level.
That’s why they should trade LeBron for a monster package ..
And move on from this shenanigans.. building around an old man will come back to haunt them.
amen!
Right , magic and bron just want to win a championship together.. they don’t care about the future of the Lakers, by the time they start really sucking Lebron and probably Magic will be long gone
Did you say “if Davis gets hurt”. That dude gets hurt every other game. He’s a lock to be hurt constantly as he ages
True. What makes him great is also a double edged sword.
No one his size moves like he does, because no one his size should move like he does.
I agree big time..
Is it possible that he doesn’t have a major injury within the next 5 years? Yes. Is it possible he does have a major injury the literal next game he plays or even in practice? Yes. Just like every single player in the NBA. But I’m wrong for saying “if” instead of “when”? Sorry I’m not as pessimistic as you
Davis is way more likely to get hurt than 99% of the other NBA players. Dude goes to the locker room almost every game with some type of injury.
And I’m not being pessimistic, just realistic. Are you familiar at all with Davis’s injury history and how insanely much he gets banged up? We are talking about Anthony Davis’s health not an average player. He’s way way more likely to miss significant time, and that will only get worse as he ages. It stinks too because he is the most
Physically gifted player in the league. But the one physical trait he clearly wasn’t given was durability.
Paul George hurt more cuz OKC doesnt seem like a “big market” he desired, playing in LA.
PG not going to LA increased stakes, for having another team beat you to your guy.
Btw assume Boston isn’t even in NO’s picture… Kings keep winning… Is Ainge’s luck running out?
Kidding! Ainge still has that future Memphis first.
That’s the crown jewel.
NO is being smart. See what teams have what lottery picks and get as many teams involved as possible. They already know the Lakers’ best offer.
I don’t know if it is smart. It is definitely gambling. If Davis gets hurt like Cousins last season, NO will be done for a decade.
Also, if the Celtics won’t actually deal Tatum, you may have waited for nothing, and their picks could turn into not that great of assets (maybe Sac sneaks in the playoffs, maybe the Grizzlies pick doesn’t convey). There are a lot of variables, the Lakers deal, you have it in hand right now, sometimes that is better than the what if.
Agreed. Makes way more sense for Celtics to KEEP Tatum..
Either trade less for Gasol, or simply sign buy-out candidate DeAndre Jordan (super likely)
Gentry was non-committal about AD playing for the Pelicans again this season if he isn’t moved by the deadline. While that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t end up playing again, I could see him being shut down the moment the Pelicans have anything tangible to work with injury-wise. Perhaps a phantom exacerbation of his current finger injury
They’re waiting to see if the Knicks get a top two pick. If so, I think a Zion/RJ + Knox + DSJ package would seal the deal. Question is, would the Knicks do that deal, especially if the pick turns out to be Zion?
No. Knicks wouldn’t do that deal for an injury prone center.
…then again, it’s the Knicks.
They sure would. ZionW is a risk too; he puts a lot of pressure on his joints with his size and explosion. Zinger was a risk. If you want someone with self-healing joints, get Lebron.
If I’m the Lakers I stop messing with these jokers and double down on a top FA, if they are willing to take Hills contract they obviously aren’t trying for two super stars anyway.
They would stretch Hill.
I don’t know, they may not. If they end up trading the rest of the team for AD, they might need him on the roster as a body. Unless the NBA is suddenly going to change to 2 on 2.
Already stretching Deng, another stretch starts to get close to 10% of cap.
Absolutely nothing lost by waiting if you’re NO. Wait to see how the lottery shakes out. What If the Knicks get the #1 pick? All of a sudden you’re in business.
Boston could potentially own 4 first round picks in this draft. FOUR. that’s insane. Lakers can’t touch Bostons best offer. Hell, Boston doesn’t even have to make their best offer to beat what LA has.
I’m sure the pelicans would love all of those mid 1st round picks
Dude, the Laker picks are gonna be in the 20s.
Are you in business though? The Knicks won’t give up nearly as much to go along with the #1 pick.
And having 4 1st round picks in a weak draft is not really a good thing. It’s guaranteed money for them.
Fairly certain NO would rather have Zion than anything LA can offer.
If you’re the Knicks, would you deal Zion though? I’m not sure I actually would for Davis.
I would say so
I would for sure.
Lakers should just focus on next year, sign the best FA and try to compete with LeBron + FA acquisition + plus the Young guns. They gotta wait for the Warriors to dissolve anyway.
Finally a voice of reason lol
If they get AD then 99% chance they land 1 Warrior or Irving.
Lol not irving
0% chance Irving
New Orleans loves Lonzo but Lavar is making noise and giving the Pels cold feet. Quiet Lavar was better for everyone. Nobody wants to deal with him.
At this point I hope davis stays wit pelicans, tears his acl and has to sit next year and the pelicans don’t get nada for him or they hold out get Tatum just to have to trade him 3 years later cuz he wants tf out of New Orleans too
Easy now
And this is why the pelicans are a joke. The other teams he would sign with do not have the pieces they should take this offer it’s the best they are going to get. Boston will not offer Tatum they need to except that.
WHERE IS DIONIS THOUGH?
For those who have said the Celtics are slipping, don’t look now. They are one of the hottest teams in the NBA and are closing on Toronto and Milwaukee. I’m sure Demps is watching. It ain’t over until it’s over.
You can observe a lot just by watching, so when you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Honestly, I see the Pels holding on long enough to see if the Knicks land #1 in the draft. If they do, I believe AD is NY bound. If not, LA and Boston now have a shot at him.
But you do, of course! Y’all
Does everyone assume the Knicks would give up the #1 overall pick? Or even the #2? The only way they do that is if they panic bc they arent sure they will land Kyrie, KD, Kawhi, Jimmy, or Kemba. Klay ain’t leaving so put that to bed.
I’d still take Zion, Ja or RJ and take my chances at luring 2 max worthy players.
Only IF they first get KI and/or KD in FA. Then it’s implicit that they’re in win now mode. AD alone with Fiz’s Kids wouldn’t be fun. Not for him, them or the fans.
Draft takes places first though.
Draft and sign Zion, then get the FAs, and finally make the AD trade (30 days after signing 1st you can trade them). Only really works if Knicks and Pels are aligned on choice (I’m assuming that with Zion).
Trading for AD gets the FAs. Asking the FAs to make the first move when their situations are already good is a big ask. Keeping Zion instead of AD will not be the same draw.
It is better for the Knicks to make the trade after July 1 but I’m not sure if there’s any advantage in waiting for July for the Pels.
Not sure what else the Lakers could offer. Unless they get a third team in and move Ball for something more appetizing, I think it’s a fair deal. Ball, Ingram, Kouz, Randle – they just took years of Lakers drafting and sucking for one player, albeit great.
Jayson Tatum is a terrific young player. Why would the Celtics want to trade him for a guy who doesn’t want to be there and will be a free agent in two years?
You’re talking west coast media trashing the east. Like Danny Ainge says, Kyrie and AD are close friends. Word is AD is afraid Kyrie won’t re sign. Ainge says after a year of playing with Kyrie, he thinks AD will stay. Like Westbrook and PG.
Less than a year…
It’s all posturing by the Rich Paul/Lebron camp. It’s been one power move after another to try and take Boston out of the running. Ainge hasn’t blinked. AD makes more sense next to Kyrie than Tatum. Tatum is a great young talent, but he needs the ball in his hands. He needs to play with a less ball dominant guard.
If celtics are dumb enough to trade everything including tatum for ad, they are even more depressed than i originally thought.
The Pelicans should wait. They don’t have to make a trade right now just because the Lakers want them to. It makes sense to wait until the summer and get other teams involved. Sure Davis says he will only sign with a handful of teams right now, but Paul George initially said he would only sign in LA and ended up staying in OKC. There will likely be a team or two willing to take that same gamble that they can convince Davis to stay. If that is the case, the Pelicans can get several quality offers in the summer. Also, what is the ceiling on the young players the Lakers are offering? Yes, Kuzma, Ball & Ingram all have good qualities, but they all also have downsides. Another factor working against the Lakers is that the members of the organization can’t keep their mouths shut about wanting players. Maybe if they weren’t so brash about it publicly and didn’t speak with a sense of entitlement, teams would be more willing to deal with them
Strategically AD should announce that he’d only re sign with the Lakers. The Lakers could then offer less and the Pelicans would have no choice but to take the lesser offer or get nothing for him at all.
That’s the problem with the NBA
Very smart for Nola to wait until the offseason to deal Davis. There’s no rush at the moment so wait until the offseason so that every team can get in on the bidding. Tbh the Lakers offer is pretty terrible, doesn’t matter how they re arrange it. Lonzo is a future backup, Kuzma is overrated, and Ingram is nothing to get excited over. The Lakers has to make 5 offers, which means they didn’t really have 1 good offer
Just keep him and play him 42 mins a game. If you can’t win with him on the court, it’s best to get rid of him anyway.
The Pelicans aren’t a bad team when healthy. Davis has plenty of help to compete.
I object to the way the Laker’s trade offer is described in the HR article by Dana G.
Usually HR goes to great lengths repeating info so that articles can stand alone.
However, here we got:
“… for a trade package built around Ingram, Kuzma & Ball”
Instead of just:
“for Ingram, Kuzma, Ball, Rondo & Beasley”.
I can stand researching elsewhere to see if Zubac for instance was offered, but Rondo’s absence feels like a slight. Dude is an impact player.