Pelicans Listening To Trade Offers For Anthony Davis

Per a report from Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania and The Athletic on Tuesday afternoon, the New Orleans Pelicans, and their Executive Vice President David Griffin, are beginning the process of opening their ears to potential trade offers for their esteemed superstar Anthony Davis ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft.

After a concerted effort and a pitch to convince their 6-time All-Star to stick around in New Orleans, it seems that to Griffin, and General Manager Trajan Langdon’s, the pitch did not turn out the way they expected. Then again, Davis stuck to his word of still wanting out of New Orleans, a word mentioned a little over a month ago.

Though Griffin was not initially optimistic Davis would stay in New Orleans, the fortune of landing the No. 1 pick during the Draft Lottery presented a new hope and pitch angle to keep Davis. Still, his mind reportedly “almost assuredly never changed”.

Multiple suitors, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks appear to be the strongest trade candidates to acquire Davis, yet Davis’ preferred long-term destinations were listed in a previous Shams report in February. This list included that of the Lakers, Knicks, Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks.

As for some scenarios on draft day, teams like the Lakers, Celtics,

and Knicks have some salient pieces to offer for this trade. The Lakers have the fourth pick in the draft, and the Celtics have three first-round selections with the addition of tradeable, young and talented pieces in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

It is no secret that the NBA could see a tectonic shift of power this offseason when mentioning the up-in-air decisions of other key free agents. If the Golden State Warriors fail to retain Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins or Klay Thompson, who are three stars set to become unrestricted free agents when the free agency period opens, they would undoubtedly alter the powers of the entire NBA should they decide to play elsewhere after the period opens up in July.

Davis’ eventual departure from New Orleans and arrival in a Boston, New York or Milwaukee could shift the powers of the league, much like a Durant, Cousins or Thompson leaving. the combination of Davis, a three-time First Team All-NBA Selection, with another high-profile superstar like a LeBron James or Giannis Antetokounpo, could be a volatile force to deal with in the league for years to come.

Now, it is up to the Pelicans to field those offers for their disappointed All-Star who is looking for greener pastures, and a clear shot to contend for an NBA title in the not-so-distant future.