When the Pelicans opted to hang onto Anthony Davis at this season’s trade deadline, it ensured that the Davis saga in New Orleans, which began when his camp publicly requested a trade last month, would drag on for at least several more months.
While Davis and the Pelicans still have to figure out how much he’ll play – or whether he should be playing at all – for the rest of the season, the two sides are essentially on a holding pattern for now. It’s not as if the team is going to buy out the All-NBA big man, so we’ll have to wait until the offseason for trade talks to heat up and for the possibility of Davis changing teams to potentially become a reality.
Given how messy things already are in New Orleans, it seems extremely unlikely that the Pelicans will once again pass on the opportunity to trade Davis during the offseason. I’d expect Davis to be on a new team by opening night of the 2019/20 season, but it remains to be seen which team that will be.
The Celtics, who weren’t eligible to trade for Davis as long as Kyrie Irving was on his current contract, may emerge as the front-runner, particularly now that AD has added them to his list of preferred destinations. However, other teams on his wish list shouldn’t be ruled out.
The Lakers can still put a tantalizing combination of young players and draft picks on the table this summer, and the Knicks may hold a trump card if they land the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Bucks probably can’t make a realistic play for Davis, but the Clippers could — a package headlined by promising young prospect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a handful of unprotected picks would be intriguing.
Of course, as the Pelicans have tried to make clear, Davis and his camp don’t control this process, which means that New Orleans doesn’t necessarily have to send him to a team on his wish list. In recent years, teams like the Thunder (Paul George) and Raptors (Kawhi Leonard) have come out of nowhere to make trades for star players, and those moves have paid off for those franchises, at least so far.
In the case of Davis, an unlikely suitor could certainly talk itself into making a play for the All-Star — after all, if things go south quickly, that team could always flip him at the trade deadline in 2020. If things work out, a deep playoff run and a five-year maximum-salary offer could make AD re-think his long-term plans.
What do you think? Which team will Davis play for when the 2019/20 season gets underway? Is there any chance he’s still a Pelican? Will a longtime frontrunner like the Lakers or Celtics land him? Or will a dark-horse suitor make a play?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!
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I think the Lakers ship sailed when they couldnt trade for him at the deadline.
If LeBron’s agent stayed out of it and AD was able to keep it out of the media LA probably would have been able to acquire him with many of their young players going to NO. Now NO can wait until the best deal comes their way. They could trade him for the #1 pick in teh draft which might be the best trade offer.
Bucks absolutely could make a play. Sign and trade Middleton and Bledsoe along with a few young players. Just couldn’t this season cause our best players behind Giannis are free agents at years end. I don’t want Davis personally because I don’t think he’s worth a rental, but in free agency if we still have brogdon and Middleton then I’d take him in a heartbeat
But there’s no way that Middleton would do the “sign” part of that sign and trade.
Sign-and-trades are much easier in theory than in practice. Even if the Pelicans and Bucks could agree on a specific package (which I think would be tricky given Milwaukee’s dearth of movable first-round picks), Middleton and/or Bledsoe would have to agree to be signed-and-traded to New Orleans.
Plus, some obscure cap rules would complicate how their salaries are treated (ie. if Middleton signed for a $26MM starting salary, he’d count for that amount for salary-matching purposes from the Pelicans’ side, but only $13MM from the Bucks’ side).
It’s not impossible, but I think it’d be a lot more difficult than it would be for most other teams.
I still think he ends up on the Lakers, because I don’t believe Kyrie will stay in Boston, and I don’t believe that Tatum will be offered as part of a trade. It seems to me like the Lakers are the most likely team to overpay in a trade.
Though I’d like to see him on a “surprise” team that’s not listed.
I should note – if the Knicks offer their first round pick from this year (especially if its top 3), I think they’ll be able to put a package together that could land AD.
I just don’t see them making that trade, but who knows with the Knicks?
If Davis REALLY wants to win and not just go to a big market, he would be better off going to the Southeast Division. There is a major dearth of superstars in that division and Davis could dominate for several more years. Atlanta just feels like a potential landing spot to me. They have put together a pretty good core so far. If they hit the lottery, I could see it working. Especially since they have the Dallas pick as well.
I know this is a pipe dream, but I would love to see AD on the Bulls.
1. Fire GarPax, dump Boylen.
2. Assuming the Bulls have a top 5 pick (but not number 1), package that with Lavine, Wendell Carter, Kris Dunn, etc. (and somehow keep Markkannen).
3. Sign competent guards in free agency and become relevant again.
Maybe AD could be the one Chicago native who doesn’t implode on the Bulls.
Nah gonna happen. A) if they trade everyone but Lauri, they cannot field a team. B) Davis does not want to play in his hometown, I think there are many reasons for that, including too much pressure (ask DRose about that one).
I disagree with your first point, but completely agree with the second. Once you have AD, Lauri, and Otto Porter (and probably Cristian Felicio), there’s still plenty of money to attract free agents, and any iteration post trade would definitely be better than what they have now.
The pressure of being home, let alone on the team that had the greatest player ever and that hasn’t won much in a while, is probably unappealing for AD at this point. Obviously he hasn’t handled the media attention with much grace.
The Nets could outbid everyone if they wanted to, at least before July 1. Deangelo Russell is RFA and they have young talent everywhere. Their draft picks?–ha. Do they want to give away a handful of firsts again?– why not, who knows better how to navigate that territory. After a span of no #1s, they are a rising team.
Then again, the Nets have done it without relying on an AD-type big-name player… (except for Russell, who… actually has mediocre stats, unlike AD). They may not be comfortable with this route, except as a solution to their 2-PG lineup and Russell’s contract decision.
After July 1, I think the Nets could pull off a sign&trade better than most due to having good cheap young players, but those rules are complicated, IDK.
1. NYK, 2.’other’, 3.LAL, 4.BOS, 5.LAC. Pretty close though. Russell is 2 years older than Tatum & Ingram, same age as Kuzma, 4 more than frosh.
Nets would be foolish to make that deal, they can continue on the path they are on and have a very good team. With that deal they would be New Orleans version 2.0, and be back where they were after the Celtics trade but with less stars.
As a Nets fan man I’d love to see AD in the white and black coogi. But Steve may be right about the cost. I doubt NOP would send AD without Dlo being included just like Tatum. Prob have to throw in Allen, Kurucs and like 3 1sts and maybe more. We’d still have Levert, Din and Harris and like 60-70m in cap space if we let RHJ walk or s&t him to the Pels. IDK
Apparently the local media has barely brought up AD’s availability, because they know an AD trade would be out of character for them. But it’s there, assuming sign-and-trade rules don’t block it.