5 winners and 5 losers from Anthony Davis’ early trade request

Anthony Davis made his trade request earlier than expected, with more than a year left on his current contract with the New Orleans Pelicans. But after yet another mediocre start to the season with the team that drafted him, he’s clearly seen enough and has made his mind up for the long-term.

It’s no shock that Davis made a trade request, as the league has been speculating about this inevitability since before the season started. But the magnitude of the eventual movement is still hard to grasp. This is Anthony Davis, one of the league’s best players, smack in the middle of his prime at 25 years old. Rarely is a player of this caliber up for grabs, with an injury-riddled Kawhi Leonard as the closest recent example.

There’s no imminent deal in the Davis sweepstakes, but the Lakers and Celtics are at the top of the list in terms of trade value. With Boston sidelined from trading before the deadline because of rules (which we’ll get to later) the leaks are just getting started. There’s too many big names involved in big cities for this to go swiftly.

But for now, we can only reflect on what we see. Here are the winners and losers of Anthony Davis’s early (but not premature) call for removal.

Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka, and the Lakers are the clear winners ... if they play their cards right. Due to a technicality, their biggest competitors, the Boston Celtics, can’t outright trade for Davis until July. The “Rose Rule,” under which both Davis and Kyrie Irving are currently signed, prohibits teams from acquiring two players under the designation via trade. (The Rose Rule is just a clause that allows players who achieve high accolades in their first four seasons to earn more money.)

L.A. has a little more than a week to negotiate a deal with New Orleans while Danny Ainge and co. wait out the deadline.

This is exactly what James wanted. He signed in L.A. knowing talent would arrive at some point, and now Davis is available with a clear preference to join the Lakers. It’s a bit morbid that James has spent time developing relationships with all of the young talent that’s going to be dealt if a Davis trade comes to fruition, but this is the move if there ever is one.

By opening up about this early, Davis can spare the dramatics of whenever he returns to New Orleans. Pelicans fans have every right to be disappointed, but they surely understand AD’s desire to play for a better team. The Pels had their chance, and this is a healthy breakup.

It might not feel this way yet, but NOLA was actually given a gift by Davis’s early request. New Orleans can use its leverage to coerce L.A. to offer its best package before Boston can step to the table. And if L.A. won’t budge, the next team can and must step up to the plate before the Celtics win on July 1 at 12:01 a.m.

For the next two weeks, everything is going to heat up. We’ve already seen a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Hayes that states that the Lakers and Knicks are preparing offers AND that Kyrie Irving might not re-sign in Boston at the end of the year.

This is what the league thrives on.

Losing their best player in the franchise’s short history sucks, especially after they lost Chris Paul in the same fashion. There’s no understating that.

But getting ahead of this problem is way better than the backlash we’ve seen with Kevin Durant, Paul George and so many others. AD and New Orleans can part peacefully, and the Pels should be able to replace at least a fraction of what he gave them in the trade. It’s a win-win in what could’ve been a total loss.

Watching on from the sidelines as your biggest rival gleefully selects which of its prospects to dole out for a superhero is tough. Even more frustrating is that Boston knows it has the best pieces to offer, but can only wait until July.

LeBron James has never had a teammate as talented as Anthony Davis. There’s no telling how good that duo could be if the Lakers can make a trade happen. Even if Davis doesn’t head to L.A., he could go somewhere better than New Orleans and become a tougher playoff out.

And even if Davis doesn’t form a new super team this year, he could in the year following.

What a colossal failure the supermax provision, implemented after Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City, turned out to be.

The contract’s intention was to keep star players in smaller markets by allowing the team that drafted the superstar to be able to pay him more money on a longer contract than anyone else in free agency. Instead, it’s either ushered quicker exits (Paul George from Indiana, Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio, and now AD) or created cap-clogging albatrosses (John Wall in D.C.).

Many players aren’t valuing then extra cash as intended, and those that are become bad contracts.

Maybe stay off Twitter and turn your Woj notifications off, guys.