Lakers Rumors

Poll: Western Conference Playoff Race

February 12th, 2019 at 10:48am CST by Luke Adams

A Clippers loss on Monday night was good news for the Kings, who have now passed in L.A. in the Western Conference standings by percentage points.

At 30-26, the Kings currently hold the No. 8 position in the West, followed closely by the Clippers (31-27), with the Lakers (28-28) also lingering.

For much of the season, the general consensus on Sacramento has been that the young club is a great story, but will ultimately fall short of the postseason. While that may still be the case, we’re more than two-thirds of the way through the season, and the Kings deserve to be taken seriously.

Having been led by youngsters De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, and Bogdan Bogdanovic all season, the Kings added reinforcements at the trade deadline by trading for Harrison Barnes and are aiming to earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

However, even after trading away Tobias Harris, the Clippers aren’t about to roll over and give up their own hunt for a postseason slot. The team still has two other players who are nearly scoring 20 points per game – Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams – and features one of the deepest, most diverse rotations in the NBA.

The Clips are getting contributions from youngsters – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Landry Shamet, Montrezl Harrell, and Ivica Zubac – and veterans – Gallinari, Williams, Patrick Beverley, and Garrett Temple – alike, and have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the West, per Tankathon.com.

Of course, of these three playoff contenders, the Lakers are the team league observers believed would be the best bet to finish in the West’s top eight. LeBron James hasn’t missed the postseason since 2005 and hasn’t missed the Finals since 2010. However, the Lakers struggled during his month-long absence with a groin injury and a playoff berth is far from a lock.

What do you think? Which of these three teams do you expect to make the playoffs in the West? Do you think more than one of them will ultimately end up in the top eight, knocking out a team like the Spurs or Jazz? Will a dark horse club like the Timberwolves or Mavericks make a run and prevent any of these three from reaching the postseason?

Vote in our poll, then share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Markieff Morris Draws Interest From Several Teams

February 11th, 2019 at 10:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent forward Markieff Morris has drawn interest from the Rockets, Lakers and Raptors, agent Rich Paul told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Morris was dealt from the Wizards to the Pelicans last week and subsequently waived. He has not played since December 26 due to a neck injury, but was cleared to resume full basketball activities on Monday by spinal specialist Dr. Robert Watkins of Los Angeles, Haynes continues. He’s expected to decide which team to join this week, Haynes adds.

Morris, 29, has appeared in 34 games this season, including 15 starts, averaging 11.5 PPG and 5.1 RPG.

All of Morris’ reported suitors have open roster spots via deals made prior to last week’s deadline. They’re also playoff contenders seeking a rotation piece for the stretch drive and postseason.

The Lakers’ interest was previously reported, though they’ve also been linked to Carmelo Anthony.

Celtics forward Marcus Morris posted a tweet on Monday expressing his desire to become teammates with his brother again, as they had been in Phoenix. However, the Celtics have not shown any interest in making that happen, according to an NBC Sports Boston report.

Lakers Notes: Simmons, Hart, Ball, Zubac

February 11th, 2019 at 8:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers released a statement stating that the Sixers had sought their permission for floor leader Ben Simmons to speak with team president Magic Johnson, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. Philadelphia emailed the Lakers in November, according to the statement, asking if Simmons could speak with Johnson about his Hall of Fame career. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka subsequently told Sixers GM Elton Brand that Johnson could only do that with Philadelphia’s written pre-approval. That was the end of the matter, the release adds. The league has launched an investigation to determine if any communication between the parties violated league rules.

We have more on the Lakers:

Guard Josh Hart received a PRP injection to treat tendinitis in his right knee, according to a team press release. Hart will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, the release adds. Hart didn’t play in blowout losses against Indiana and Philadelphia and only lasted eight scoreless minutes against Boston.
Lonzo Ball isn’t considered a defensive specialist but the Lakers have missed him at that end of the court, Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times notes. The Lakers’ defensive rating is the third-worst in the league in the nine games since Ball was sidelined by a severe ankle sprain. “He allows us to switch a lot,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “If they want to run any pick and roll minus the center, the 1-5 pick and roll, we can just switch it. And we feel confident Lonzo can guard most of the other players there. We have Lonzo picking up full-court the other team’s points guard. He’s great at instincts, getting deflections.”
Trading young center Ivica Zubac to the Clippers to ‘rent’ power forward Mike Muscala doesn’t make much sense, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report argues. Zubac could have been an inexpensive, long-term contributor for the Lakers, Pincus continues. He would have been a restricted free agent with a modest cap hold of $1.9 million. Muscala’s cap hold is $9.5MM and he might not be any more productive than Zubac would have been the rest of this season.
LeBron James claims the reason he drafted Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis for his All-Star team had nothing to do with recruiting, according to another Ganguli story. “That’s all part of the speculation that continues to drive our sport,” he said. “It’s all good and well and dandy, but for me I picked according to my draft board and I picked according to who was the best available.”

Atlantic Notes: B. Simmons, Lakers, Gasol, Knicks

February 11th, 2019 at 2:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson told reporters over the weekend that Ben Simmons had reached out to the team asking if he could get together with Johnson during the offseason to talk to him about playing in the NBA as a point guard with size. While Johnson suggested he’d be on board if the Sixers, the Lakers, and the NBA all signed off, it sounds like it won’t happen.

Appearing on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia (Twitter link), Sixers GM Elton Brand said today that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka contacted him to ask for authorization and Brand said no “over a month ago.” Tania Ganguli of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) hears a different account, citing a source who says that the 76ers initiated the discussion about Simmons wanting to meet with Johnson, with Pelinka calling Brand back to say the Lakers weren’t comfortable with it.

While it’s not clear which team shot down the idea first, neither side appears to be on board, so presumably Simmons and Johnson won’t meet this summer. The fact that the young 76er is represented by Rich Paul is sure to generate some speculation, but Ganguli tweets that Simmons’ desire to talk to Johnson was simply due to their on-court similarities, and he intends to be a Sixer for a long time.

Ganguli’s report won’t necessarily satisfy the NBA though. According to league spokesperson Mike Bass, the NBA is looking into whether there was any communication between Simmons and the Lakers that violated league rules (Twitter link via Ganguli).

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Marc Gasol waived the 15% trade kicker on his contract to help finalize the trade sending him to Toronto last week, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks on The Lowe Post podcast. While the trade bonus would only have been worth about $1.29MM, Gasol’s decision could save the Raptors about $3.2MM in projected tax penalties, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic notes (via Twitter).
Speaking of Gasol, the Raptors are still experimenting with a fluid frontcourt rotation as they figure out how to best use Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pascal Siakam, head coach Nick Nurse said today (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca).
Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic takes a wide-ranging look at what the summer could bring for the Knicks and their two maximum-salary contract slots, from the “utopia” outcome to the “doomsday” scenario.

Magic Johnson Discusses Trade Deadline, Free Agency

February 10th, 2019 at 9:26pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos

Magic Johnson spoke to the media prior to the Lakers‘ game against the 76ers on Sunday, discussing several topics that ranged from the trade deadline to the team’s upcoming free agency plans. Below are a sample of his comments.

Asked about the trade deadline – and implicitly the negotiations with the Pelicans for Anthony Davis – Johnson said that the Lakers didn’t feel as if they’d entered good-faith negotiations. “At the end of the day, what happened happened,” Johnson said (video link via Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group).

Johnson also downplayed the idea that players would be negatively impacted by having had to deal with the possibility of being traded, suggesting that it’s part of the business. “A lot of people got traded on Thursday and Wednesday,” Johnson said (video link via Bill Oram of The Athletic). “Guess what’s going to happen next year? A lot of players are going to get traded.”

Johnson also indicated that the lack of success negotiating a trade for Davis won’t affect the Lakers’ free agency plans (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com).

Finally, Johnson revealed that Ben Simmons reached out to the Lakers about the possibility of working with Johnson over the summer, as Simmons hopes to learn from the best big guard in league history. Johnson expressed his willingness to work with Simmons, but only if the league approves such an arrangement (video link via Oram).

Lakers Notes: Pelinka, Team Chemistry, Additions

February 8th, 2019 at 6:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers missed out on Anthony Davis after heavy speculation that the team would send many of its young players out of town. The team did make a pair of trades, though its core of young prospects remains mostly intact.

GM Rob Pelinka was asked about the strain the rumors may have had on the team and how to repair it. Pelinka responded with a story about a pastor and his fiancee who were riding a trolley, as Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times passes along (Twitter link). Pelinka explained how 100 people tried to board the trolley and separate the two, leaving the couple with two options: Allow the people to get between them or hold each other close and allow the people around them to push the couple together.

Team chemistry will be an interesting storyline in Los Angeles as the season progresses. Here’s more on the Lakers and their plan to win games this season and beyond:

Pelinka and team president Magic Johnson met with coach Luke Walton prior to the trade deadline to talk about the roster, Ohn Youngmisuk of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link). Pelinka said that adding floor-spacing shooters was a “big need” for the team to be “effective” and he feels the Lakers addressed that need. Both Reggie Bullock, whom Pelinka calls an “elite” shooter, and Mike Muscala are expected to be available for Lakers on Sunday against the Sixers.
The Lakers are evaluating a “handful” of potential players to add from the buyout market, Pelinka said, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com tweets. The GM also added that the team is weighing whether or not to add someone now or wait to bring a player on board. Pelinka did not specifically address Carmelo Anthony when speaking with the reporters.
Pelinka hopes that the Lakers‘ new additions can have the type of impact Julian Edelman has for the Patriots, McMenamin relays in the full-length piece. “I almost look at Bullock and Muscala, my hope is, much like Edelman was,” Pelinka said. “It’s just one player, but that can have such a big impact on overall chemistry, and I hope those two guys can come in and have that impact.”
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines the Lakers‘ options this offseason should they again fail to trade for Davis. Pincus speculates that Los Angeles could look to add Nikola Vucevic or DeAndre Jordan in free agency or turn their attention to another star, such as Bradley Beal, on the trade market.

Every NBA Team’s Post-Deadline Roster Situation

February 8th, 2019 at 2:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA confirmed today that 2019’s trade deadline set and matched some records. The 14 trades completed on Thursday were the most made on a deadline day in the last 30 years, and the 19 teams involved in those swaps was tied for the most over that same period.

In total, 34 players were involved in those 14 trades — and that doesn’t even count the eight deals completed during the week leading up to the deadline, as we detailed last night.

Needless to say, there has been plenty of roster upheaval around the NBA, so we’re going to use this space to take a look at all 30 teams’ roster situations to see exactly where they stand. Does your favorite team have a full roster? Or is their roster somehow only two-thirds full? Looking at you, Raptors.

Here’s a breakdown of all 30 clubs’ roster situations at the time of this post’s publication (more moves will be made in the coming days or even hours that won’t be noted here, so keep that in mind):

Atlanta Hawks

The Hawks entered the week with 15 players, but had to waive Daniel Hamilton to clear a spot to acquire Jabari Bird. They subsequently traded Tyler Dorsey for Shelvin Mack, then waived both Bird and Mack.

They currently have 13 players on their roster, leaving two open spots. They’ll have two weeks to get back to the league-mandated minimum of 14 players.

Boston Celtics

After carrying 15 players all season, the Celtics traded Jabari Bird to create an open roster spot. They’ll explore the buyout market for candidates to fill that opening.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets entered the week with 14 players on standard contracts and one (Mitch Creek) on a 10-day deal. Creek’s contract was terminated a few days early to make room for Greg Monroe, who was waived after being acquired from Toronto.

Brooklyn now has 14 players under contract and could opt to re-add Creek (albeit on a full-season contract), sign another player, or leave that spot empty for now.

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets had a quiet week and continue to carry 14 players, leaving one open roster spot.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls created an open spot on their roster by trading Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker for Otto Porter, and are now carrying 14 players.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers acquired two players – Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin – for Rodney Hood, which required them to terminate Kobi Simmons‘ 10-day contract early to stay at 15 players.

Subsequently, Cleveland flipped Stauskas and Baldwin to Houston in exchange for Marquese Chriss and Brandon Knight, with Alec Burks heading to Sacramento in that three-team deal. The 3-for-2 move left the Cavs with 14 players and an open roster spot.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks, already at 15 players, acquired two veterans – Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson – in exchange for Harrison Barnes, and had to waive Salah Mejri to make the deal work.

They’re currently at 15 players, but will be releasing Randolph very soon to create an open roster spot.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets didn’t make any moves this week and continue to carry a full 15-man roster.

Detroit Pistons

Both of the Pistons‘ trades this week were 1-for-1 swaps in terms of players, with Thon Maker and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk replacing Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson.

However, with the team closing in on a deal for Wayne Ellington, someone will need to be waived to stay at the 15-man limit. That player will reportedly be Henry Ellenson.

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors didn’t make any moves this week and still have 14 players under contract, leaving an opening for potential buyout targets.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets had a very busy week. Initially carrying 14 players, they took on three (Iman Shumpert, Nik Stauskas, and Wade Baldwin) in exchange for two (Marquese Chriss and Brandon Knight) in a three-team trade with Sacramento and Cleveland.

That put Houston at the 15-man limit, but the club subsequently sent Stauskas and Baldwin to Indiana, and Ennis to Philadelphia. Now the Rockets are carrying just 12 players and will have two weeks to get back up to 14.

Indiana Pacers

The Pacers had an open roster spot coming into the week, but in order to accommodate a trade that saw them acquire two players (Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin) from the Rockets without sending a player back, they had to cut Ike Anigbogu.

Indiana reportedly plans to waive Stauskas and Baldwin, which would reduce their roster count to 13 players. They’d have two weeks to get back to 14.

Los Angeles Clippers

The Clippers, with a full 15-man roster already, made a pair of 2-for-1 trades on deadline day that required them to waive a player. For their deal with the Grizzlies, the Clips waived Marcin Gortat. They cut Milos Teodosic to accommodate their swap with the Lakers.

The Clippers remain at 15 players, giving them a full roster, though there have been whispers that they’ll waive newly-acquired forward Michael Beasley.

Los Angeles Lakers

By sending Michael Beasley and Ivica Zubac to the Clippers for Mike Muscala, the Lakers opened up a spot on their roster.

With 14 players under contract, the Lakers are expected to keep an eye on Markieff Morris, Carmelo Anthony, and other veteran free agents.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies, who started the week with 14 players on standard contracts and Bruno Caboclo on a 10-day deal, were one of the league’s most active teams.

Memphis started by trading JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple to the Clippers for Avery Bradley, reducing their roster count to 14 players. However, the deal sending Marc Gasol to Toronto was a 3-for-1 swap, forcing the club to waive a player — Omri Casspi was the odd man out, which bodes well for Caboclo’s chances of sticking around.

The Grizzlies are now back to 14 players on standard contracts, plus Caboclo’s 10-day deal.

Miami Heat

The Heat already had an open roster spot and created a second one by moving Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to Phoenix for Ryan Anderson. They’ll have to add a 14th man within the next two weeks.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks didn’t give up any major assets to acquire Nikola Mirotic, and even opened up a roster spot in the transaction, sending out Jason Smith and Thon Maker in the three-team trade.

Milwaukee is now carrying 14 players, leaving an opening for a possible buyout target.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves didn’t make any moves this week and still have 15 players under contract. One of those 15 is Isaiah Canaan, whose 10-day contract is about to expire, so Minnesota could create a roster opening by letting him go.

New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans started the week at 15 players, then swapped Wesley Johnson for Markieff Morris. Their second move was a 2-for-1 deal, with Nikola Mirotic sent out for Stanley Johnson and Jason Smith.

To make that deal official and remain at 15 players, New Orleans waived Morris.

New York Knicks

The Knicks, who had been carrying 14 players, didn’t make any trades this week, but still saw their roster count dip to 12 when they waived Enes Kanter and Wesley Matthews.

New York will have two weeks to get back to 14 players, and has room to sign three players in total.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder were quiet at the deadline, but made a trade last Friday, sending Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to Chicago. That deal reduced their roster count to 13 players, meaning they have one more week to return to 14.

Orlando Magic

The Magic, who had a full roster, made one trade this week, which only involved two players — Jonathon Simmons for Markelle Fultz. As a result, Orlando remains at 15 players.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Sixers started the week with an open roster spot after Corey Brewer‘s 10-day contract expired. Their 3-for-3 deal for Tobias Harris didn’t change that, but their acquisition of Malachi Richardson from the Raptors gave them a full roster.

Philadelphia followed up those moves by making two more deadline-day deals. Their Markelle Fultz/Jonathon Simmons swap didn’t require a corresponding move, but their acquisition of James Ennis did — in order to make room for Ennis, the 76ers waived Richardson.

The Sixers are now at 15 players, but if they reach a deal with a free agent, they could potentially waive someone like Justin Patton or Furkan Korkmaz.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns entered the week with 14 players under contract. That number dipped to 13 when Emanuel Terry‘s 10-contract expired, which gave the team more than enough room to take on Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington for Ryan Anderson.

Phoenix subsequently released Ellington, and is now at 13 players. The club will have two weeks to get back to 14.

Portland Trail Blazers

The Trail Blazers, who had been carrying 15 players, made a 2-for-1 deal earlier in the week for Rodney Hood and no longer have a full roster. They have 14 players under contract.

Sacramento Kings

After entering deadline day with a full roster, the Kings made three trades. Two were 1-for-1 deals (Skal Labissiere for Caleb Swanigan, and Iman Shumpert for Alec Burks), but the other one saw them acquire Harrison Barnes for Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson. That reduced their roster count to 14 players.

The Kings’ roster count dropped one further when they Ben McLemore, but they signed Corey Brewer to a 10-day contract today. Sacramento is now back to 14 players, leaving one open roster spot.

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs had a quiet deadline and still have a full 15-man roster.

Toronto Raptors

As I alluded to in the introduction to this post, the Raptors had an eventful week that saw them shedding players left and right.

Toronto, already with one open roster spot, traded three players – Jonas Valanciunas, C.J. Miles, and Delon Wright – for Marc Gasol, and moved Malachi Richardson and Greg Monroe in salary-dump deals without taking anyone back. In total, the club traded five players for one, reducing its roster count to just 10(!) players.

Technically, teams aren’t allowed to drop below 11 players (not including two-way contracts), but the Raps likely received a short window to rectify that issue due to the nature of the trade deadline.

They’ll add an 11th man when they sign Malcolm Miller to a 10-day contract, which will likely become official tomorrow. They’ll have two weeks to add three more players to their roster to get back up to 14 players.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz didn’t make any moves this week and continue to carry a full 15-man roster.

Washington Wizards

The Wizards had 13 players on standard contracts and John Jenkins on a 10-day contract before making a pair of deadline trades. They used their open roster spot to take on Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker for Otto Porter, then made a 1-for-1 deal involving Markieff Morris and Wesley Johnson.

Washington now has a full 15-man roster, but can open up a spot when Jenkins’ 10-day deal expires tomorrow night.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Magic Johnson To Meet With Lakers’ Players

February 8th, 2019 at 11:40am CST by Luke Adams

After approximately half of the players on the Lakers‘ 15-man roster were mentioned in rumored trade talks for Anthony Davis within the last week, president of basketball operations Magic Johnson intends to meet with the club this weekend in Philadelphia, reports Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.

According to Turner, Johnson will talk to the Lakers’ players about the Davis saga and will listen to every player who wants to say something, encouraging an open dialogue so that the Lakers can move forward and focus on the task ahead for the rest of the season. Turner writes that Johnson will emphasize “that the NBA is a business and that this franchise is about winning championships and doing all it can to accomplish that goal.”

Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were all featured in various Davis-related rumors last week, with reports suggesting that L.A. had offered each of those players in at least one package for the Pelicans’ star.

The ongoing chatter seemed to be affecting the Lakers on the court on Tuesday night, when the team suffered a 42-point loss in Indiana. However, L.A. bounced back on Thursday, winning a dramatic 129-128 contest over the Celtics.

At 28-27, the Lakers remain in the hunt for a playoff spot in the West and currently sit 1.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Clippers. The club opened up a roster spot on Thursday and could add some reinforcements for the stretch run.

While Carmelo Anthony has frequently been linked to the Lakers, the team also has interest in Markieff Morris, assuming he’s healthy, Turner reports. Morris, who is dealing with a neck injury, was waived by the Pelicans on Thursday and is on track to reach free agency this weekend.

Lakers Trade Zubac, Beasley To Clippers For Muscala

February 7th, 2019 at 8:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

8:07pm: The Clippers have officially announced their trade with the Lakers, issuing a press release to confirm the move. While there’s no indication yet that Beasley has been released, the statement from president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank makes it clear that Zubac is the prize of the deal.

“For two-plus seasons, we have seen Ivica up-close and watched him develop into a skilled center,” Frank said. “For his age, Ivica has proven to be an energetic rim protector who can score around the basket. We are eager for him to join our group of promising young players.”

1:39pm: The Clippers have agreed to trade power forward Mike Muscala to the Lakers for young center Ivica Zubac and journeyman forward Michael Beasley, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The deal will open a roster spot the Lakers, affording them the opportunity to sign a player on the buyout market, with Carmelo Anthony among the players they’ll consider, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter links here).

The Lakers will “seriously look” at Anthony, the Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner tweets. The Bulls waived Anthony on February 1st after acquiring him from the Rockets last month. Anthony has often been linked to the Lakers since things went sour quickly with the Rockets this season. He’s close friends with LeBron James, who recently stated his desire to play with the longtime All-Star forward.

“I’ve always wanted to play along Melo and if the opportunity presents itself, it would be great,” James said.

Muscala was just acquired by the Clippers in the blockbuster deal with Philadelphia that sent Tobias Harris to the Sixers. He gives the Lakers a big man who can shoot from deep. Muscala, who was averaging 7.4 PPG, is a career 36.5% shooter from distance.

The Clippers’ initial plan is to waive Beasley, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. Zubac gives them a young big man to grow in their system. He was averaging 8.5 PPG and 4.9 RPG in limited playing time this season. The Clippers would have to extend him a $1.93MM qualifying offer this summer to make him a restricted free agent.

Latest On Anthony Davis

February 7th, 2019 at 1:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

Some members of the Pelicans organization want to get the Anthony Davis trade done today to eliminate the public relations distraction, but those feelings don’t go all the way to the top, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). The NFL’s Saints remain the priority for owner Gayle Benson and VP Mickey Loomis, who aren’t bothered by the Davis situation.

There’s more news about the top name on the trade market:

The Lakers’ last offer to the Pelicans involved Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac, Josh Hart and a pair of first-round picks, tweets John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7. He suggests the Celtics are prepared to offer Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Al Horford (assuming he opts in) and possibly three first-round picks this summer.
Davis will pressure the Pelicans to start playing him if he’s not dealt before the deadline, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter link). “Every game,” a source said. Davis has been sidelined with a fractured left index finger, but recently received medical clearance.
Gambadoro expects Davis to be in the lineup for tomorrow’s game against Minnesota (Twitter link).

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