Although Anthony Davis remains under contract with the Pelicans through at least 2020, rival NBA executives believe he could be up for grabs for a larger-market team before then, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Davis will be eligible for a five-year, super-max contract extension as of July 2019. If he passes on that extension – which some executives believe he might, per Haynes – the Pelicans could be forced to consider the possibility of trading the star big man before he gets the opportunity to opt out in 2020.
The Celtics, Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, and Warriors are among the big-market teams that will be monitoring Davis’ situation this year and next, sources tell Haynes.
Whenever he has been asked about his future, Davis has dismissed the idea that he wants to play anywhere but New Orleans. However, as Haynes notes, Davis’ top priority is to win, so the Pelicans will be under pressure to continue building a roster that can help the former first overall pick achieve that goal.
[RELATED: Anthony Davis Hopeful DeMarcus Cousins Can Return To Pelicans]
“Of course, I know that in order to win games, a lot of pressure is going to be on me,” Davis said after a loss to the Warriors this week. “I don’t have a good game and we lose. So, I got to play almost perfect every night to give us a chance to win.
“But my teammates do a great job,” he continued. “Even the games I didn’t play, those guys have been battling night in and night out to get victories. … I don’t try to put too much pressure on myself, but I know it’s there.
While the speculation about Davis isn’t expected to subside, the five-time All-Star knows it comes with the territory, suggesting he’s tuning out the noise and focusing on what he can control on the court. He also tells Haynes that his teammates, who “do as much as possible to help me,” don’t view his contract situation as a distraction.
“Nah, my team doesn’t care. They cherish the moments that they have with me,” Davis said. “Every day we try to put in the work to be a great team. They hear it, I hear it. Everybody hears it. It’s hard not to. But we’re focused on what we have to do this year. We’re trying to beat teams like the Warriors and get to where they are. That’s our goal. That’s it.”
Right now it’s early but the Pelicans won’t look to trade him for the time being since they have been good so far. If I’m Danny, I put Horford on the table with the first rounders from Sacramento, Memphis, and LA Clips and see what they say
If the Pelicans can get Jaylen Brown in the deal I do it.
I don’t think they’ll consider trading him at all this season — if he doesn’t sign a super-max extension right away when he becomes eligible next summer, then maybe they’d start to think about it. (The Celtics wouldn’t be eligible to acquire him until Kyrie’s current contract ends anyway).
He’s already complaining about how he has to play perfect just to win. It’s not looking good right now, Demps should have brought back Cousins. Realistically Cousins is a idiot because they offered a 2 year 40 million dollar deal and he didn’t take it but he took 5.3 million from the Warriors? The dude is a friggin child.
But he will more than likely win a title in GS and then go get money next year once he proves he is healthy.
Cousins says the Warriors offer was the first he got. Demps didn’t make that offer according to Cousins. He said nobody wanted to make him an offer because of his achilles tendon, which is understandable. He’s still not ready to play. The Warriors brought him in for the playoffs.
Part of article with Davis talks about this (the one I read-Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN.com).
The two-year, $40MM offer from the Pelicans was an extension offer prior to free agency. The Pelicans didn’t officially put a new offer on the table at the start of free agency, though they had a meeting scheduled with Cousins that never happened because he signed with Golden State first.
Bob Myers da man.
They would immediately say no. Horford is for a contender, not for a rebuilder, that would be a bad deal for NO.
Davis to MSG…one could only hope
We wouldn’t have anywhere near the pieces to get him. They’d want KP, Knox and a 1st I’m sure.
Dell Demps if you care about keeping Davis around sign Cousins this coming summer or else he’s gone guaranteed. It’s that simple you either bring Cousins back July or you might as well move AD, trade with Boston. You can get Jaylen Brown,Al Horford, and some picks and you would be a lock for the playoffs still.
Imo, if the Peks are a top 4 or 5 seed and at least win one playoff series. I think he signs the extension and becomes the highest paid player. And, why can’t he get a decent wing to come play with him? If they added say for example Kkay Thompson in free agency. They’d be instant contenders. Jrue is a very underrated player. They just need one more decent good player to have a Big 3. All this talk about reuniting with Boogie. Screw that. Go after Klay. Make yourself better and weaken your opponent. Don’t forget Klay loved playing under Gentry.
They can monitor away. This kind of player doesn’t get dealt unless he demands it, and there’s no indication he’s even considering doing that. Even if he were unhappy, if I were the Pels, I would just tell him he’s there through 2020 either way, so he might as well sign his super max in 2019. After 2020, if he’s still unhappy, then a trade perhaps. His alternative is to pull a Kwahi, but I don’t see that ever happening with this player.
I monitor away too, for cheap. If HR prints it, I monitor it.
If that happens, we might as well just contract half the league and just play big city ball. What is the point of having franchises in Memphis, Charlotte, Portland, Denver, Minnesota, Milwaukee, New Orleans, and several others when they aren’t able to keep players that only want to play for NY, LA or Boston?
I totally agree. It’s almost like they only want good teams in big cities. You would think they would want parity in the league. Small markets are not suppose to get or have a winner. Small market teams don’t deserve a winner. It’s sad the state of the NBA. Another thing, the Pelicans don’t want Al Horford. We want Brown, Tatim, Smart and a puck or 2 for AD and Moore. We want enough pieces back where we can still put a nice product on the floor. Al Horford, PLAAAHEASE!!