The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of leverage heading into next month’s NBA Draft after they shocked the world by winning the NBA Draft Lottery.
New Orleans likely will select Duke phenom Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick, pending it trades the pick to another team. But another big question surrounding the Pels is what will happen with Anthony Davis? Drafting Williamson likely wouldn’t be enough to keep Davis around, but it will give vice president of basketball operations David Griffin plenty of leverage when it comes to negotiations.
A report surfaced Friday saying New Orleans had no intention to “do business” with the Los Angeles Lakers — a team expected to be in the Davis sweepstakes. But those rumors were denied by team owner Gayle Benson.
According to Fletcher Mackel of WDSU 6 in New Orleans, Benson laughed off the report, calling it “totally absurd” and “completely untrue.”
There’s no telling which, if either, report is true. But there’s no doubt it certainly will be an interesting offseason.
