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Several title contenders have thrown their hat on the ring in pursuit of Anthony Davis, hoping to use him as the lone missing piece for a title push and then recoup any lost assets by flipping him at the end of the season or keeping him until free agency, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
This is surely a high-risk, high-reward maneuver, but one that could perhaps be worth it to a team one piece away from a title bid. Davis won't come cheap though, as the New Orleans Pelicans will search for the very best package available before dealing him.
The Pels are reportedly in no rush to deal their talisman forward and could very well wait until the offseason for the Boston Celtics to show up and show their best hand, likely packing a few aces under their sleeves with a surplus of young talent and deep stack of draft picks president Danny Ainge has saved for a moment like this.
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The trade-and-flip could be a quick way to put a franchise in ruins, though, as buying will come at a high cost and selling him a year after brings its share of risks.
For one, competition could play a part on that gambit, as Davis now is the top asset available in trade talks — but the situation could be different if a cheaper and less-risky player arises in trade discussions, taking a few players off the poker table.
Teams could also decide to keep Davis until he becomes a free agent, rolling the dice the same way the Oklahoma City Thunder did with Paul George and the Toronto Raptors recently tried with Kawhi Leonard.
Either way, trading for Davis without prior conversations of a long-term partnership could be a very risky gamble, one only outweighed by a team's desperation to dethrone the Golden State Warriors.
