The New Orleans Pelicans will almost surely be trading superstar Anthony Davis this summer, so, naturally, you would expect the Pelicans to want to hold Davis out for the rest of the season to prevent injury.
However, NBA commissioner Adam Silver does not want New Orleans doing that, so he is forcing the team to play the big man.
Silver explained why:
“If the trade request had been private and the Pels suddenly started resting AD, how could that he explained to the public?” said Silver, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Silver also added that he knows people think the NBA should not mettle with how teams conduct business, but that that is not how leagues work.
While Silver certainly makes a good point, let's face it: trade demands never, ever stay private these days, so even if Davis and the Pelicans did have those discussions behind closed doors, there is no way they wouldn't have leaked at some point.
In today's social media era, everything gets reported instantly, so it seems hard to believe that Davis and the Pels would have been able to keep this under wraps regardless how they went about it.
Davis requested a trade from the Pelicans early last month. The Los Angeles Lakers aggressively pursued him before the Feb. 7 trade deadline, but New Orleans rebuffed their efforts, meaning that the Pels will now punt to the offseason.
The 25-year-old was originally drafted by New Orleans' organization back in 2012 and has made just two playoff appearances with the franchise.
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