Although the Los Angeles Lakers may have struck out on their first attempt at trading for Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, they will seemingly have another opportunity to bid for him with new executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin around now.
The Lakers have long been tied to Davis even before he made it clear that he wanted to leave the Pelicans. While there is certainly no shortage of interest, negotiations have proven to be rather difficult with the Pelicans looking to get a heavy return for the six-time All-Star.
There has since been plenty of speculation regarding which team will have enough assets to make a deal happen. It appears any hope they have of acquiring Davis is tied to New Orleans bringing another potential suitor in the mix.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Griffin is reportedly looking to get multiple teams involved in the deal:
According to front offices who’ve engaged in conversations with Griffin, he hasn’t sounded convinced that one team is likely to fulfill his wishes for a Davis deal. To that end, Griffin has been working to find multiteam trade scenarios that could redirect assets for players or picks more preferable to the Pelicans, sources said.
Wojnarowski added a bit more clarification on what the Pelicans could be seeking in exchange:
Griffin is pursuing a combination of assets that include an All-Star player, a young player with All-Star potential and two first-round picks, league sources said. Those wants are on a sliding scale. For example, the better the player, the softer the requests on the draft picks — and vice versa.
It is safe to say that the Pelicans are looking to get plenty of bang for their buck by cashing in on all the vested interest in Davis, which is certainly understandable. The question now remains which team is willing to get involved and potentially get the short end of the stick for now.
The Lakers were reportedly willing to part ways with nearly all of their young core in exchange for Davis during the 2018-19 NBA season. They have even more assets to work with now after being awarded the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and could use it to help sweeten the pot moving forward.
Regardless, recent reports suggest that may not even be enough to sway Griffin into making a potential deal. Their best shot at this point seems to be assisting the Pelicans in their search for another team to get involved.
