Anthony Davis has informed the New Orleans Pelicans that he won’t sign a contract extension and requests a trade.
This is big news for the entire NBA. According to Adrian Wojnarowski Anthony Davis doesn’t want to stay in New Orleans and won’t sign an extension.
Who could blame him?
The team has done absolutely nothing to try and intrigue him to stay. They haven’t traded or signed anyone significant to help out the All-Star Forward. Davis is having a career year averaging 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assist per game. He’s doing this with absolutely no help
Davis wants to sign with a team that allows him to consistently win and compete for a championship. The first two teams that come to mind are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. They have the most pieces that would interest the Pelicans.
On top of this, Rich Paul is Davis’ agent who also represents LeBron James. Unfortunately, the Celtics can’t trade for Davis until July 1 because league rules wouldn’t allow Kyrie Irving’s and Davis’ contracts under the designated rookie exception on the roster together.
The designated rookie exception allows players coming off their rookie-scale contracts to earn 30 percent of the salary cap rather than 25 percent if they meet certain criteria.
All signs are pointing to the Lakers, but should other teams risk it and try to pull off what Oklahoma City did with Paul George? Should the Washington Wizards get in on the mix?
Any team could offer young talent and multiple draft picks and the Pelicans would listen. The Wizards could offer Otto Porter, Troy Brown Jr., and a couple of draft picks. New Orleans would try and get Bradley Beal, but that won’t happen. Risking the draft picks for a Center who ultimately wouldn’t want to stay in the Nation’s capital wouldn’t be worth it.
The only way Washington could convince the All-Star to stay next season would be to pitch the idea to Davis of playing with a healthy squad of John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Dwight Howard. This is highly unlikely since Wall and Howard are always injured and are both on the back-end of their careers.
So, to answer the question: No, the Wizards shouldn’t get involved in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. This will be one of the biggest trades to go down since the Chris Paul trade in 2017.
Washington should sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show.