The NBA trade deadline has come and passed, and the Los Angeles Lakers are walking away without Anthony Davis, according to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes. They weren’t even close. Reports were that the Pelicans didn’t talk to Magic Johnson and co. on Wednesday or Thursday at all. This deal was never on the brink of happening, for whatever reason.
Anthony Davis trade to Lakers doesn’t happen, after all that drama
We’ll resume this saga in the summer.
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
The package would have included some combination of Lakers youngsters (Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart), future first-round picks, and salary filler. But New Orleans, perhaps obtusely, “demanded” the Lakers give up everything to even consider making the deal. The Lakers did not, and fumed in the process.
7 must-reads about Anthony Davis’ trade demand
- FLANNERY: No reason for the Pels to act now
- THE BIRD WRITES: The ultimate AD trade primer for Pelicans fans
- SILVER SCREEN AND ROLL: Lakers need to go all-in for AD
- CELTICS BLOG: Why Boston can’t trade for AD until July
- WINFIELD: The 11 moves that doomed the AD era
- ELLENTUCK: Every team’s possible trade offer for AD, ranked
- ZILLER: The supermax concept failed
That’s the CliffNotes version. Scroll down in this link to see every step of the saga.
Maybe the alleged Lakers tampering got to New Orleans. Maybe the fear of pairing their once beloved star with LeBron James was too sickening. Maybe, the Celtics, a long-suggested Davis suitor forced to sit on the sidelines until July due to a weird CBA quirk, have a promise to offer Jayson Tatum in a better package over the summer. Maybe another team will step up.
That’s all speculation for now, though.
All we know is that this was a big failure for Los Angeles, who will spend its first LeBron James year hunting for a lower seed in the West. It’s unclear if there’s a realistic chance of L.A. pulling off an offer for AD over the summer, when Boston and many other teams are sure to be involved, but this isn’t a good sign. Can they afford to wait until he’s a free agent in 2020?
In the short-term, the team has a lot of fixing to do as well. Tensions are boiling — as proof of a Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee’s rift with Luke Walton show — after nearly every non-LeBron name on the roster has been rumored in trade talks.
The Lakers will need to pull its group together before a run for the postseason, or things could get ugly. This is the unit L.A.’s running with — for now.
New Orleans, meanwhile, must now decide how to handle Davis’ obvious discontent. The Pelicans held him out of their last two games, despite reports that he had been medically cleared to play after recovering from a finger injury. Can they really keep Davis out of games? Will Davis even want to play?
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