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The big news coming out of NBA circles as of late has been Anthony Davis' interest in being traded, but how much of a hand does LeBron James really have in all of this? The New Orleans Pelicans All-Star big man is one of the top players in the league. He's under contract through 2020, which makes him more than a rental. He only makes around $25 million as well, which makes him very affordable.
The Pelicans should be able to drive a hard bargain for his services. However, the team said in a statement that they would only do what's best for the franchise in the long term.
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Per the team's official website:
“This past weekend, Anthony Davis’ representatives informed us that Anthony does not wish to sign a contract extension with our team and subsequently has requested a trade. Although we are disappointed in this decision, our organization’s top priority is to bring an NBA championship to our city and fans and build our team for long-term success.
Relative to specific talks of a trade, we will do this on our terms and our timeline. One that makes the most sense for our team and it will not be dictated by those outside of our organization. We have also requested the League to strictly enforce the tampering rules associated with this transaction.”
Notice the last line of the statement. “We have also requested the League to strictly enforce the tampering rules associated with this transaction.” The Pelicans organization has been hard-pressed to make sure James, his agent Rich Paul and the Los Angeles Lakers didn't tamper.
The league already fined Davis for violating the CBA by asking for publicly requesting a trade. Even though it was through his agent, the NBA does not want its players to vocalize their concerns in such a way.
The line between what is and isn't tampering is unclear. Players have always communicated with each other off-offhandedly, suggesting in secret they would like to play with one another. Some may even claim players have colluded to join a team even before they were free agents. LeBron James has always been the center of these rumors and accusations, so its only fitting that he is once again.
The NBA suddenly coming in to discipline tampering is kind of ridiculous. It would set a dangerous double-standard and precedent moving forward. Nothing was said when Draymond Green said on the record that he called Kevin Durant in the parking lot after losing in the 2016 NBA Finals. Even this past season Kyrie Irving had reportedly discussed playing with Anthony Davis. The league never stepped in then, so why now?
It remains unclear if there is any tampering, or if the league could even do anything about it. It seems like the Pelicans organization is doing everything it can to put a stop to trading Davis. This includes impeding his path to a storied franchise elsewhere.
Even so, they could trade Davis to the New York Knicks or the Chicago Bulls. They'd still gain back a reasonable amount of young assets. They aren't cornered by his trade request. They have time to make a move that works for their franchise.
No matter what, general manager Rob Pelinka and president Magic Johnson are going to build a winning basketball team around James. They'll likely sign a max free agent this offseason and use their young assets to acquire top talent. James has no reason to beat around the bush. He will get stars to play with him regardless.
The card rests in the hands of Pelicans GM Dell Demps. If Davis is to be traded to the Lakers, the deal would have to go through the league office. If they believed the deal to be illegitimate, they'd step in. So far, that isn't the case. If James had tampered, nothing would ever come of it. There's no way to prove any collusion.
