The Anthony Davis-Boston Celtics rumors gained seriously validity Wednesday afternoon.
Four ESPN NBA insiders, including Adrian Wojnarowski, reported that the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are “engaged” in trade talks for the New Orleans Pelicans superstar. There are no details on who Boston is offering, but Wojnarowski noted the Lakers’ first-round draft pick (No. 4 overall) is being discussed as a chip in a possible multi-team deal.
Celtics and Lakers are engaged in trade talks with New Orleans on All-NBA star Anthony Davis, league sources tell me, @ZachLowe_NBA, @ramonashelburne and @WindhorstESPN. Lakers No. 4 pick has been discussed as trade chip to help Pels acquire high-level player in multi-team deals.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 12, 2019
He clarified the Celtics and Lakers are working separately in negotiations with New Orleans, not together on a multi-team deal.
To be clear, of course: The Celtics and Lakers are trying to negotiate independent deals with New Orleans for Anthony Davis. There's no spirit of cooperation here. The Lakers No. 4 pick would be used to acquire Davis in a multi-team deal that does NOT include Boston. https://t.co/C9NwYJiObX
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 12, 2019
No word yet as to whether the Celtics are engaging in trade talks with the belief they can re-sign Kyrie Irving, who reportedly opted out of his current deal Wednesday morning. Multiple reports indicate the Celtics’ interest in Davis is unwavering, despite Irving’s rumored interest in signing with a New York-based team.
In a follow-up tweet, Wojnarowski said the Celtics are “undeterred” in their pursuit of Davis.
So far, Boston has been undeterred in pursuing Davis — despite his agent insisting AD would be a 2020 flight risk in free agency. For Boston, Davis could still be its best case to keep Kyrie Irving. Story soon on https://t.co/XcwLHcsHad https://t.co/C9NwYJiObX
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 12, 2019
Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, said Tuesday that his client — who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer — will not re-sign with Boston. Paul said similar things in February, though Davis later indicated the Celtics indeed are on his trade list.
Of course, this whole fiasco welcomed a new variable Monday night when Kevin Durant suffered a reported Achilles injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
