The New Orleans Pelicans know they will not be able to retain Anthony Davis, as the All-Star forward has already requested a trade and also informed them he has no plans of re-signing with the franchise even if they offer him the supermax deal.
The Pelicans are now planning to do a full rebuild that will begin with a Davis trade. The team also made forwards Julius Randle, Nikola Mirotic, and E'Twaun Moore available in trade talks with the hopes of getting draft picks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Starting last Friday — when Davis made his request to the Pelicans — several teams told ESPN that Demps had made forwards Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle and guard E'Twaun Moore available in trade talks. The Pelicans are continuing to explore the market value of those players, sources said.
One direction those talks could take: trading those players to recover draft picks as part of a more complete post-Davis rebuild.
The Pelicans are currently 13th in the Western Conference with a 23-29 record. All signs point to them missing the playoffs, so they are looking at all the possible options to help them rebuild and be competitive at the same time.
Trading Davis will be the most difficult thing to do, but the Pelicans have already received at least five trade offers from the Lakers, one of which includes Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac, and a first round pick. On paper, that's an offer that would be hard to decline, but it is also unclear if the Pelicans are sold on the potential of those young players or not.
Either way, they are now looking at a future without Davis. All they can do at this point is delay the inevitable, but their rebuild begins now.
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