To counter to the reports that surfaced prior to the trade deadline, President of the LA Lakers Jeanie Buss borrowed a phrase from President's Tump vocabulary. Referring to the rumors around disgruntled New Orleans Pelican star Anthony Davis and the Lakers, Buss called reports that the team was looking to trade “our whole roster” for “one player” “fake news,” according to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report.

Davis told New Orleans he wanted out before the deadline, in a move to possible prevent the Boston Celtics from making the best offer, forcing his way to the Lakers to play alongside LeBron James—both players are represented by Klutch Sports. Boston can't trade for Davis until the offseason because they had already traded for a player on the Rose Rule extension, Davis' friend, and LeBron's former teammate, Kyrie Irving.

Buss was careful not to refer to Davis by name, in 2017, the Lakers were fined $500,000 for tampering following statements from President of Basketball Operations Earvin “Magic” Johnson. New Orleans also sent out a memo imploring the NBA to enforcing their tampering rules before the deadline.

The Pelicans decided to hold onto Davis, who the team has kept on a strict minutes limit, often benching him for entire fourth quarters. At 28-36, New Orleans has no incentive to win games, but the 30-32 Lakers are 3.5 games out of the playoffs and fighting for a berth to make the most of their time with LeBron.

Since the deadline, these teams have met twice, once in New Orleans and once in Los Angeles, with both teams winning their home match up. Davis didn't play in the New Orleans win, but had 22 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes in their 125-119 loss to the Lakers.

At the All Star game, Davis, said the list of teams he'd play for included all 29 other teams. While Buss denies they wanted to trade everyone for Davis, there is clearly a mutual attraction between the player and the Lakers.