NBA Trade Rumors: Anthony Davis and his camp is expected to announce that he will only re-sign with the Lakers, in hopes of expediting a trade to LA
Not only has Anthony Davis and his agent Rich Paul requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, but it appears that he wants to handpick his next landing spot too. And how can you blame them, it’s what the NBA has become over the last few seasons.
Predictably, the place where Davis wants to land is with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ironically, or not at all, that’s also the team that LeBron James calls home. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the next strategic move to get Davis to LA (sooner rather than later, potentially by the NBA Trade Deadline next week) is to let teams know that he will only re-sign long-term in Los Angeles.
The hope is that it will scare off other bidding teams in their pursuit of AD, leaving a Lakers offer as the one that stands the tallest – even if it’s not up to the standard of the Pelicans.
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"[via ESPN]After agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports told ESPN on Monday that he had informed the Pelicans that Davis wouldn’t sign an extension this summer and wanted a trade, multiple league sources expect the agent and star to soon deliver word throughout the league that Davis’ preferred destination is the Lakers and he’ll become a rental player until 2020 with a trade anywhere else."
It’s going to be interesting to see if this tactic works for Anthony Davis. Over the last year, it didn’t work for Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler. Even though both landing in great situations when they were dealt, neither of them landing in the place where they reportedly wanted to be.
Will it end any different for Davis? That’s the question, and it appears the next move that his camp will utilize in an attempt to get him to the Lakers and LeBron.
The NBA Trade Deadline is roughly one week away, and a lot has to happen between now and then before Anthony Davis becomes a Laker. In fact, it’s probably the best move for the Pelicans to hold off trading AD until the summer (partly, so Boston can get in the game).
However, if Davis’ camp is really going to scare teams away, warning them that their client won’t re-sign long-term under any circumstance, perhaps his road to the Lakers just got a lot easier. Anthony Davis to the Lakers might be a matter of “when”, and not “if” anymore.