Anthony Davis Wants Out, and Here's Why the Lakers Should Overbid Now Before Boston Steals Him
By Jason McIntyre
Anthony Davis is certainly one of the five best players in the NBA, but his Pelicans are floundering. After a stunning 1st round sweep of the Blazers last year, there was optimism around New Orleans this season. Maybe they’d win a 2nd round playoff series and be able to convince Davis (3rd in the NBA in scoring, 4th in rebound, 2nd in blocks), to sign a supermax contract and stay in the Bayou.
It’s just not happening. The Pelicans are 22-28 and fading out of playoff contention. They haven’t been above .500 since before Thanksgiving. The joy from a 4-0 start is a distant memory.
Anthony Davis has officially requested a trade out of New Orleans, and now the question becomes do the Pelicans trade him now, or wait for a summer bidding war?
The NBA trade deadline is less than two weeks away.
Could New Orleans get a desperate Lakers team – they’re not there yet – to overpay now? The struggling Celtics obviously covet Davis, as they have for two years now. They’ve got the most draft capital and better younger talent than the Lakers. But due to salary cap restrictions, they are somewhat hamstrung in what they can do. (Details here.)
Besides those two, do any other teams remotely make sense for New Orleans now or in the summer?
Denver: The Nuggets have the 2nd best record in the West, one of the best rosters in the NBA, and seven players averaging double digits. Jokic appears to be a superstar (20.1 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 7.7 apg), and Jamal Murray is on the cusp of stardom (18.5 ppg) and in some respect maybe these are the baby Warriors, before they broke through. That team nearly traded Stephen Curry, and then Klay Thompson. If Denver goes down in the 1st round, maybe anything’s possible, but before the trade deadline, I’d say no.
LA Clippers: There’s been smoke around the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard since the summer of 2018, and they’re following him around as if recruiting him. Was that to throw off the scent of their real interest … Anthony Davis? The Clippers have overachieved this year, and when LeBron comes back, the Clippers probably miss the playoffs. I’d keep an eye on them at the deadline. Problem is, the Pelicans should want 1st round picks or talented prospects on their rookie contracts. Cap space does nothing for the Pelicans. I don’t think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and future picks is better than what the Lakers can offer.
Houston Rockets: It’s Daryl Morey, alright? I’m obligated to mention the Rockets.
Philadelphia 76ers: The Jimmy Butler experiment doesn’t appear to be working out. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid on the floor at the same time still feels clunky. Maybe this is the old Thunder with a young Harden-Westbrook-Durant and we never see it all the way through. But if you’re the 76ers, do you take a wild swing and try to pair Embiid and Davis? I don’t think it’d work, but the process is likely going to lose Butler for nothing.
New York Knicks: How about this – the Knicks call the Pelicans and said hold off on trading him now, what if we get the #1 pick? We would trade you Zion Williamson and Kristaps Porzingis and whatever else you want for Davis. The Pelicans have to consider this … right?
Most other teams that would want Anthony Davis – even as a rental – he won’t be signing with. There are a limited number of markets he’s going to sign with.
Lakers fans who say they should wait for the summer are wrong. They should overpay now. Boston has a deeper war chest. This will probably end up being enough:
Brandon Ingram
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Kyle Kuzma
Ivica Zubac
(maybe a 1st round pick)
for
Anthony Davis.
You don’t have much around AD and LeBron, but you suddenly become very dangerous in the West, you get Lonzo Ball back in early March, and you keep Josh Hart as a role player.