You might not want to bank on Anthony Davis donning a Los Angeles Lakers uniform in the near future.
It’s become a matter of when rather than if the New Orleans Pelicans will deal their franchise superstar. Davis has made it clear he has no intention of re-signing with New Orleans when his current contract expires, thus vaulting the six-time All-Star onto the trade block.
The Lakers have been the most consistent team tied to Davis in trade rumors, but it seems unlikely L.A. will be able to strike a deal for The Brow by the Feb. 7 deadline. In turn, Magic Johnson and Co. will be forced to be patient in their pursuit of Davis, but it sounds like they might have stiffer competition in acquiring the 25-year-old than originally thought.
There reportedly are four teams Davis would be open to re-upping with if traded to. Unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, it sounds like they’re on the outside looking in.
Davis’ reported heavy interest in the Knicks is somewhat surprising. New York just got rid of its lone superstar in Kristaps Porzingis, and while the organization has enough salary cap flexibility to offer two max contracts, there’s no guarantee a marquee talent takes his talents to the Big Apple. Of course, there’s always a chance Davis knows something we don’t.
The Bucks, meanwhile, are in an intriguing fight. While Milwaukee can’t offer the big-market lifestyle like other teams, a pairing of Davis and Giannis Antetkounmpo is downright frightening to think about. As for the Clippers, they set themselves up for the future quite nicely by acquiring two future first-round picks via the Tobias Harris trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
While this might be Davis’ ideal list at present, he’ll have plenty of time to mull over his future. The star forward still has one year remaining on his contract after the 2018-19 campaign, so an interested team could take a chance on trading for Davis this summer in hopes of convincing him to stay for the long haul.
