The buzz around the NBA has been surrounding the Pelicans since Anthony Davis’s agent informed the team that the Brow wants to bounce from the Big Easy. It’s rumored that Davis’ preferred destination is LA, and according to Brad Turner of the LA Times the Lakers have contacted Pels GM Dell Demps with 5 different deals.
Lakers president Magic Johnson and the Lakers then presented five different trade scenarios to Demps on Wednesday and are waiting to hear back from Demps about which interest him the most, per sources.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner)
January 31, 2019 Lakers want to get deal done and have no plans on trying to outbid Celtics during the summer because Lakers will then pursue other free agents besides AD.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner)
January 31, 2019 The trade deadline is next week and LA’s biggest competition for Davis could be their old rival Boston. The Celtics however cannot do a trade for AD before the deadline since a team can only acquire one player via trade on a "Derrick Rose Rule" contract extension. That rule allows teams to pay a player coming off his rookie deal a larger percentage of the salary cap, and Kyrie Irving was signed under that rule and acquired through a trade.
Davis has been inactive for New Orleans the last 6 games due to a finger injury. There has been growing belief that he will not play the remainder of the season if he is not dealt by the February 7th deadline. Davis is scheduled to speak with the local media tomorrow after the Pelicans practice.
