Since David Griffin took over as the New Orleans Pelicans‘ executive vice president, he has been publicly hopeful of convincing Anthony Davis to back off his trade demand and consider staying with the Pelicans. Last Wednesday, Griffin sat down in Los Angeles with Davis and his agent, Rich Paul, with whom Griffin has a solid relationship after working with Paul for many years as he is also LeBron James‘ agent, but Shams Charania of the Athletic reported that the meeting did not, and is not expected to, change Davis’ mind about wanting a trade.
Now, per Charania, the Pelicans have begun to listen to trade offers for the All-Star forward. The Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets are thought to have the best potential trade packages for Davis, according to rival executives, while Davis reportedly has the Lakers, Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks on his list of teams that he would like to be traded to.
Where Davis ends up is arguably the biggest storyline of the upcoming offseason, right there with where Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard decide to sign as free agents. There’s a chance Davis could hook up with one of those three, perhaps with the Knicks or the Lakers as both teams have the assets to at least entice New Orleans with a trade offer while also having the cap space to sign a max free agent.
The Celtics were long considered the favorite to land a deal for Davis, and they still might be depending on whether Irving re-signs, which would presumably give Boston the confidence to part with their most coveted young player in Jayson Tatum — along with a lot more. Boston lost a trade chip when the Grizzlies vaulted to No. 2 in this year’s draft order. Had that pick fallen out of the top eight, it would’ve gone to Boston and been another potential top-10 pick to offer. In addition, the Sacramento pick Boston owns also didn’t do them any favors by falling in the No. 14 slot. The Clippers could be a player for Davis as well, though their package of draft picks and young players wouldn’t seem to be quite as enticing.
