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New Orleans Pelicans fans in attendance for Friday night's contest versus the Minnesota Timberwolves will witness a sight they thought that they may never see again: Anthony Davis suiting up while calling New Orleans his home floor.
After weeks of incessant trade rumors, the Pelicans held onto their prized possession through the trade deadline, and he will return to action Friday after a nine-game absence, albeit on a minutes restriction.
Since the decision to hold onto Anthony Davis until at least the summer, there has been widespread speculation about how New Orleans would handle their proverbial golden goose. Head coach Alvin Gentry attempted to quell some of that chirping by stating, “he's healthy and he's gonna play” — referencing the fact that in addition to the trade rumors, Davis was also battling a finger injury that kept him in street clothes since Jan. 18.
Gentry would also go on to reference the fact that Davis has seen a hefty workload this season and that they wouldn't push him to directly that number (37 minutes per game) in his first contest back.
#Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry on Anthony Davis – "He's healthy and he's gonna play."
As for his injury – "We're gonna do it the way we do with any player that's coming back from injury. He averages 38 minutes, he's definitely not gonna play that today."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 9, 2019
While the Pelicans sit just six games back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference, there are five clubs ahead of them also vying for that spot. They have gotten back Julius Randle from injury, but dealt away Nikola Mirotic who was fourth on the team in scoring at 16.7 points per game. In short, it does not appear that New Orleans is making it a priority to push for the final playoff spot, especially at the expense of Davis, and more importantly, what they could get in return for him.
