Seth Wenig/Associated Press
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers “plan to make an aggressive push” for Anthony Davis this season, even though it messes with their spending power in free agency, per Wojnarowski. This doesn’t need a deeper dive.
Los Angeles sat out the Paul George sweepstakes, and he re-signed with Oklahoma City. Team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka aren’t going to make the same mistake again.
Verdict: This is the antithesis of B.S.
Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee is among the handful of teams expected to make a serious play for Davis prior to the trade deadline, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor. And as Gery Woelfel of Woelfel’s Press Box reported, everyone on the roster other than Giannis Antetokounmpo is up for grabs.
Absolutely buy into the Bucks making a call to the Pelicans. Twenty-eight other teams are doing the same. But Milwaukee doesn’t begin to register as a realistic landing spot.
It remains to be seen whether the Pelicans will prioritize high-end picks and prospects or established impact players as centerpieces in any deal. For the Bucks’ purposes, it doesn’t matter. They won’t meet the threshold of either requirement.
They cannot deal a first-round pick before 2023, and with the protections on their other commitments, it’ll be more like 2024. Sterling Brown, Thon Maker, Donte DiVincenzo and D.J. Wilson are nice throw-ins, but they’re not anchoring a superstar return.
The Bucks are better off if the Pelicans want players who can help them win now, but just barely. Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon (restricted) and Khris Middleton (player option) don’t fit the bill when they’re all on expiring contracts.
Verdict: Smells like B.S.
New York Knicks
Consider this from Stein: “Even though it is likely that the Knicks’ strongest offer for Anthony Davis would come in May once their draft position is known, one source with knowledge of the team’s thinking confirms that the Knicks are intent on making themselves a factor in the Davis sweepstakes.”
New York is one of the few that might have the juice to coax New Orleans into making a deal now. Packaging this year’s pick with Kevin Knox and a loosely protected 2021 first-rounder has the makings of a nice haul. The Pelicans would be hedging against the Knicks’ ability to keep Davis, and anyone who’s watched them operate over the past few decades knows that’s hardly a bad bet.
Filler needs to be included to make that deal work, and things get complicated if New Orleans pushes for a win-now piece New York doesn’t have in its possession. Kristaps Porzingis is only valuable to the Pelicans if they know he’s healthy and going to stay as a restricted free agent or coming over as part of a sign-and-trade.
Basically, as we’ve already gone over, waiting out the market is the best play. The Knicks have a better chance of sending the Pelicans Zion Williamson if Davis doesn’t suit up for them this season, and once more, it behooves New Orleans to let Boston make a pitch.
Still, New York is at the fore of teams most likely to mortgage it all for Davis, both now and later—especially if, as a source told Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher, they have “a strong chance” of poaching Kevin Durant in free agency.
Verdict: Totally, unequivocally, irrevocably not B.S.
Toronto Raptors
Toronto plans to wedge itself into the Davis conversation, per O’Connor—which is equal parts sensible, terrifying and not at all a sure thing.
Building something around OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Delon Wright, a future pick and filler (Jonas Valanciunas) is among the most tantalizing midseason bids the Pelicans could solicit. It still isn’t enough to force them into action without fielding a permissible offer from the Celtics.
That works for the Raptors. They can assemble a comparable, if not better, package over the summer, when then they’ll know for a fact what Kawhi Leonard is doing. Wright’s restricted free agency rules him out, but the Raptors have Fred VanVleet and could include 2020 and 2022 first-rounders.
Would Toronto play its best hand before hashing out Leonard’s future? Maybe. Davis is under contract for another year, and team president Masai Ujiri is as gutsy as they come. But it becomes exponentially harder to keep Davis after losing Leonard and emptying the cupboard. The Raptors know this, and for the time being, their offers might reflect the relative ambiguity of their situation.
Verdict: Believable, justifiable, but kind of BSish.
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