The Los Angeles Lakers hoped to pull off a trade for Anthony Davis at the deadline but were unable to reach a deal with a New Orleans Pelicans front office that some, including Magic Johnson, feel didn’t negotiate in good faith.
The Pelicans clearly weren’t thrilled with the timing of Davis’ trade demand and wanted to strike back at the perception that stars are moving to big markets.
At the deadline, Davis made it known that he does not want to play for the Boston Celtics, who have accumulated a number of assets and will be the favorite to trade for him this summer. Danny Ainge urged then-Pelicans general manager Dell Demps to hold off on trading Davis so that Boston could get in on the bidding while other clubs around the league urged New Orleans to not deal with the Lakers.
The ploy worked, and the Pelicans never fully engaged the Lakers despite the massive offer that Los Angeles was reportedly offering.
However, while the Celtics are reportedly undeterred in their quest to acquire Davis, a recent report by Sham Charania of The Athletic suggests that Davis isn’t backing down from his assertion that he would only be a rental for the Celtics and would leave the team as soon as he is a free agent in 2020 if he is traded there.
As Trevor Lane explores on this episode of the Lakers Nation News Feed, the Lakers could still find themselves in a strong position to pull off a trade for Davis if he can convince the Celtics that he would be a rental for just one season, thus decreasing the amount that Boston would be willing to trade in order to acquire him.
The one thing that is certain at this juncture is that this story is far from over.
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