The entire NBA was shocked to its core when New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis publicly demanded a trade two weeks ago. Everybody thought that he would end up with the Los Angeles Lakers to play alongside LeBron James, as both players are being represented by agent Rich Paul and Klutch Sports group.
The Lakers made massive efforts to acquire AD from the Pelicans. Los Angeles reportedly offered their entire young core plus two first round picks to New Orleans in exchange for Davis. The Lakers had two weeks to convince the Pels to trade their franchise player, but when the trade deadline passed last Thursday, no deal was made.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst recalled how people from around the league called him to talk about the failed plan of Davis' camp to send him to Los Angeles. He talked about it in the Hoop Collective podcast.
“I couldn't believe how my phone blew up at 3:00 PM today with people mocking Anthony Davis and Rich Paul. Agents, other teams, league officials saying ‘boy, they really screwed up.'”
The speculated master plan of Davis' camp was to announce the trade publicly, ten days before the deadline so the Lakers are given a heads up and will have plenty of time to assemble the best possible trade package they can offer to the Pelicans. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka did just that. They offered New Orleans a nucleus of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, and two first round picks.
However, the Pelicans made it clear they weren't giving up Davis, by asking the Lakers to include four first and two second-round picks in the deal. Los Angeles did not want to surrender that many assets for Davis and ultimately pulled themselves out of the trade talks.
No one gained the upper hand in this drama-filled situation. The Pelicans will still lose Davis, who can still be traded to a team he doesn't want to play for. While the Lakers are still in search of that second superstar they can pair with LeBron.
Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens this July.
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