With the news of Anthony Davis requesting a trade, recent Lakers rumors have been about what type of package they might offer.
As the trade deadline approaches, Lakers rumors will be running wild until then, as Anthony Davis has formally requested to be traded from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Due to the struggles of the Pelicans, it wasn’t too surprising to see that Davis wanted out of New Orleans. As one of the top players in the league, Davis understandably wants to win. Despite being arguably a Top 5 player in the league, he hasn’t been able to find playoffs success in New Orleans.
Since Davis is a true superstar, every team in the NBA should be calling up the Pelicans to gauge interest. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers, as expected are going to be one of those interested teams.
"The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are preparing to make offers for New Orleans Pelicans superstar forward Anthony Davis, league sources told Yahoo Sports.The Lakers’ brass had a meeting Monday morning in large part to coordinate the franchise’s plans, sources said."
Due to the Lakers having cap space, young assets, and LeBron James, they present both Davis and Pelicans with a very viable trade partner. The Pelicans would likely want some sort of package that has young players and draft picks, and the Lakers can certainly offer that if they choose to.
From Davis’ perspective, the Lakers would certainly be contenders with him and James on the same team. While their depth might be hit because of the trade, the Lakers would have one of the best duos in the NBA.
Davis is currently under contract for this season and next season. Since he is a franchise player, the Pelicans might not want to rush the process of trading him before the February 7th deadline. Recently, big trades like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have occurred over the summer, rather than during the season.
With Davis making it clear that he will not be signing a contract extension with the Pelicans, it will be only a matter of time before he is traded. Since the Lakers have the assets to make a deal, we will have to see if the two sides can agree.