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Pelicans Consider Shutting Down Anthony Davis For Remainder Of The Season
Ever since Anthony Davis and his agent, Rich Paul, have informed the New Orleans Pelicans that Davis has no intention of signing a contract extension, and has requested a trade, the NBA world has been upside down.
But according to various reports, the Pelicans are not going to be rushed into an Anthony Davis trade. General Manager Dell Demps said that he is not picking up his phone. Let’s add a ‘yet’ to this last sentence, because we all know that it will happen eventually.
The Pelicans have already put the word out that they aren’t too interested in a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, Davis’ preferred landing spot. And considering the assets every team may has to offer, the Boston Cetlics are the only ones standing out. As previously reported though, the Celtics can’t trade for Davis before the summer, due to Davis and Celtics All-Star Kyrie Irving both being designated rookie scale players, and a team can have only one of these acquired by trade on their roster. Irving’s a free agent this summer, will sign a new contract, and, given he resigns, gives Boston the opportunity to trade for Davis.
But that’s this coming summer. What’s in store for Davis now?
Davis clearly stated that he doesn’t want to be in New Orleans. The Pelicans have already removed Davis from their intro video. Has he already played his last game for the franchise?
According to Marc Stein, the Pelicans are considering sitting Davis out for the remainder of the season, if no trade were to happen until next week’s trade deadline.
It has not been definitively decided that Anthony Davis has played his last game for the Pelicans, according to one source close to the situation. But the source said it is a scenario under consideration in the event New Orleans does not move Davis before next Thursday's deadline
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
If no trade materializes between now and the Feb. 7 buzzer, with the playoffs essentially out of reach, New Orleans has much more incentive to keep Anthony Davis shelved in the name of protecting its prized trade asset rather than playing him. As does Davis himself …
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
