New Orleans Pelicans taking calculated gamble holding on to Anthony Davis
No one should be surprised that the New Orleans Pelicans asking for the sun, moon and the stars from the Los Angeles Lakers for superstar forward Anthony Davis.
The Pelicans are trading a 25-year-old in the prime — or perhaps before his prime — of his career. Davis is a three-time All-NBA performer, three-time All-NBA defensive team selection and a six-time All-Star who cannot opt out of his current deal until 2020.
The price for Los Angeles is steep. After making a final reported offer of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and two first-round draft picks, the Pelicans still wanted more draft selections in the deal.
New Orleans was essentially forcing the Lakers to up the ante without any other immediate bidders. And the Pelicans still balked.
The Boston Celtics can’t trade for Anthony Davis with Kyrie Irving on his current contract. Irving and Davis are both signed under the Designated Rookie Player Extension and a team isn’t permitted to trade for two players under that type of deal. Irving was traded to Boston prior to the 2017-18 season.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks, who just dealt Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, could try and build their own super team if the NBA Draft lottery balls bounce their way and they get the No. 1 pick.
Irving can opt out of his deal on July 1 and re-sign with Boston or ink a deal with any other team. The NBA lottery is May 14.
All indications are the Pelicans are waiting to see what options will be presented in front of them.
But the Pelicans and general manager Dell Demps, executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis and owner Gayle Benson are still taking a gamble, albeit a very calculated one.
There’s no guarantee that the Lakers have the same package on the table in the summer when the Pelicans could re-engage in talks.
When the Lakers backed away from the table on Tuesday, they did so saying they wouldn’t negotiate against themselves, according to a report.
New Orleans is banking on the Lakers having the same deal after the season in part because they are hoping other teams such as Boston and the Knicks can get into the bidding war.
Throughout most of the NBA, Boston’s Jayson Tatum is viewed as the highest-valued prospect the Pelicans could potentially get back.
Tatum, in his second season out of Duke, is averaging 16.3 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 45.1 percent overall and 37.2 percent from deep. As a rookie, he put up 13.9 points a game while shooting 47.5 percent and 43.4 percent beyond the arc.
It was in the playoffs that Tatum really started to jump out as a potential star. Without Irving or Gordon Hayward, Tatum helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals averaging 18.5 points as a 19-year-old.
The Celtics could opt to keep Tatum off the table to build a core around Tatum, Davis and Irving but the Pelicans will certainly push for him to be a part of any deal.
Boston still has intriguing assets even without Tatum including Marcus Smart (signed through 2021), Jaylen Brown (signed through 2019) as well as Memphis’ first-round pick that is top-8 protected in 2019, top-6 protected in 2020 and unprotected in 2021, the Los Angeles Clippers’ lottery-protected pick, the Sacramento Kings top-1 protected pick and their own first round pick.
If the Clippers pick doesn’t transfer in 2019, it becomes a lottery-protected pick in 2020. If it doesn’t come over at that point, it becomes a 2022 second-round pick.
The Knicks offered Porzingis but could find themselves back in the mix if the win the lottery. New York could end up heading into the summer with two slots to sign players to maximum contracts – possibly Kevin Durant and Irving.
New York could end up offering a package centered around Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina or Allonzo Trier as well as their first-round pick and two future first-round picks from Dallas. The Knicks also could offer former Chalmette star Mitchell Robinson in the deal.
Davis’ team has leaked out he’d only sign long-term with the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks or Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks don’t have the assets to make a feasible offer, but the Clippers took a big step in that direction in the early morning hours on Wednesday when they completed a trade sending Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Clippers could build an offer around guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard Landry Shamet, forward Montrezl Harrell and forward Danilo Gallinari. If the Pelicans deal for Gallinari, they could free up slots for two max players in the summer and they’ve long been rumored to be a landing spot for Kawhi Leonard if he leaves Toronto.
In addition to players, if the Clippers miss the playoffs, they keep their 2019 first-round pick instead of sending it to Boston. In that scenario, the Clippers could deal their first-round pick in the lottery to New Orleans as well as Philadelphia’s 2020 first rounder and an unprotected 2021 first-round pick from Miami.
While the Pelicans may not be able to get the exact offer the Los Angeles Lakers had on the table in the summer, they will still be able to get value for Davis. Each of the last two seasons a top player has been dealt to a team not previously on his wish list.
Oklahoma City traded for Paul George from Indiana for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis prior to the 2017-18 season and George ended up re-signing with the Thunder.
This summer, the Toronto Raptors sent All-Star DeMar DeRozan in a package for Leonard. The team is hopeful he re-signs in the summer.
There could always be a team that makes the gamble those two teams did and try to get Davis without a long-term commitment. Another team may take a stab at getting Davis to make a run at the 2020 NBA title.
The Pelicans could see the potential trade packages for Davis decline in the summer. Los Angeles could pull back some assets if the Knicks don’t win the lottery or if Irving won’t commit to signing in Boston and the Celtics don’t put Tatum on the table.
But no matter what, holding on to Davis through the trade deadline is ultimately the right move for the Pelicans organization. Take your time, figure out what the best possible deal is when everyone has all their chips.
Now, it’s just a matter of this gamble pays off.
No one should be surprised that the New Orleans Pelicans asking for the sun, moon and the stars from the Los Angeles Lakers for superstar forward Anthony Davis.
The Pelicans are trading a 25-year-old in the prime — or perhaps before his prime — of his career. Davis is a three-time All-NBA performer, three-time All-NBA defensive team selection and a six-time All-Star who cannot opt out of his current deal until 2020.
The price for Los Angeles is steep. After making a final reported offer of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and two first-round draft picks, the Pelicans still wanted more draft selections in the deal.
New Orleans was essentially forcing the Lakers to up the ante without any other immediate bidders. And the Pelicans still balked.
The Boston Celtics can’t trade for Anthony Davis with Kyrie Irving on his current contract. Irving and Davis are both signed under the Designated Rookie Player Extension and a team isn’t permitted to trade for two players under that type of deal. Irving was traded to Boston prior to the 2017-18 season.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks, who just dealt Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, could try and build their own super team if the NBA Draft lottery balls bounce their way and they get the No. 1 pick.
Irving can opt out of his deal on July 1 and re-sign with Boston or ink a deal with any other team. The NBA lottery is May 14.
All indications are the Pelicans are waiting to see what options will be presented in front of them.
But the Pelicans and general manager Dell Demps, executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis and owner Gayle Benson are still taking a gamble, albeit a very calculated one.
There’s no guarantee that the Lakers have the same package on the table in the summer when the Pelicans could re-engage in talks.
When the Lakers backed away from the table on Tuesday, they did so saying they wouldn’t negotiate against themselves, according to a report.
New Orleans is banking on the Lakers having the same deal after the season in part because they are hoping other teams such as Boston and the Knicks can get into the bidding war.
Throughout most of the NBA, Boston’s Jayson Tatum is viewed as the highest-valued prospect the Pelicans could potentially get back.
Tatum, in his second season out of Duke, is averaging 16.3 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 45.1 percent overall and 37.2 percent from deep. As a rookie, he put up 13.9 points a game while shooting 47.5 percent and 43.4 percent beyond the arc.
It was in the playoffs that Tatum really started to jump out as a potential star. Without Irving or Gordon Hayward, Tatum helped lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals averaging 18.5 points as a 19-year-old.
The Celtics could opt to keep Tatum off the table to build a core around Tatum, Davis and Irving but the Pelicans will certainly push for him to be a part of any deal.
Boston still has intriguing assets even without Tatum including Marcus Smart (signed through 2021), Jaylen Brown (signed through 2019) as well as Memphis’ first-round pick that is top-8 protected in 2019, top-6 protected in 2020 and unprotected in 2021, the Los Angeles Clippers’ lottery-protected pick, the Sacramento Kings top-1 protected pick and their own first round pick.
If the Clippers pick doesn’t transfer in 2019, it becomes a lottery-protected pick in 2020. If it doesn’t come over at that point, it becomes a 2022 second-round pick.
The Knicks offered Porzingis but could find themselves back in the mix if the win the lottery. New York could end up heading into the summer with two slots to sign players to maximum contracts – possibly Kevin Durant and Irving.
New York could end up offering a package centered around Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr., Frank Ntilikina or Allonzo Trier as well as their first-round pick and two future first-round picks from Dallas. The Knicks also could offer former Chalmette star Mitchell Robinson in the deal.
Davis’ team has leaked out he’d only sign long-term with the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks or Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks don’t have the assets to make a feasible offer, but the Clippers took a big step in that direction in the early morning hours on Wednesday when they completed a trade sending Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Clippers could build an offer around guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, guard Landry Shamet, forward Montrezl Harrell and forward Danilo Gallinari. If the Pelicans deal for Gallinari, they could free up slots for two max players in the summer and they’ve long been rumored to be a landing spot for Kawhi Leonard if he leaves Toronto.
In addition to players, if the Clippers miss the playoffs, they keep their 2019 first-round pick instead of sending it to Boston. In that scenario, the Clippers could deal their first-round pick in the lottery to New Orleans as well as Philadelphia’s 2020 first rounder and an unprotected 2021 first-round pick from Miami.
While the Pelicans may not be able to get the exact offer the Los Angeles Lakers had on the table in the summer, they will still be able to get value for Davis. Each of the last two seasons a top player has been dealt to a team not previously on his wish list.
Oklahoma City traded for Paul George from Indiana for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis prior to the 2017-18 season and George ended up re-signing with the Thunder.
This summer, the Toronto Raptors sent All-Star DeMar DeRozan in a package for Leonard. The team is hopeful he re-signs in the summer.
There could always be a team that makes the gamble those two teams did and try to get Davis without a long-term commitment. Another team may take a stab at getting Davis to make a run at the 2020 NBA title.
The Pelicans could see the potential trade packages for Davis decline in the summer. Los Angeles could pull back some assets if the Knicks don’t win the lottery or if Irving won’t commit to signing in Boston and the Celtics don’t put Tatum on the table.
But no matter what, holding on to Davis through the trade deadline is ultimately the right move for the Pelicans organization. Take your time, figure out what the best possible deal is when everyone has all their chips.
Now, it’s just a matter of this gamble pays off.
If they can’t get Davis
