Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve the New Orleans Pelicans, who are reportedly now returning trade calls for Anthony Davis.
Los Angeles Lakers rumors continue to roll in as we move closer and closer to the NBA Trade Deadline. Those Lakers rumors have been dominated by Anthony Davis, and another update has come along.
Following Davis’ trade request, the New Orleans Pelicans were understandably upset. No team wants to accept the realization that their star player will be moving on. When that player also tells you he wants to play for a specific team, things could get ugly.
Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, who also represents LeBron James, made it clear he wanted to be traded earlier this week. The Lakers were the preferred landing spot, but the Pelicans had no real interest in gift-wrapping Davis to the Lakers.
The Pelicans reportedly had no interest in doing a deal with the Lakers and would make a trade on their own timeline. Pelicans general manager, Dell Demps, would reportedly not even answer the phone for trade talks. However, that has reportedly changed.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, executives from the Lakers and Pelicans have been in touch. He also reports that the two sides should be in touch prior to the trade deadline on Feb. 7.
Lakers and Pelicans executives have connected on the phone concerning Anthony Davis, league sources tell ESPN. They're expected to talk again prior to next week's trade deadline.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
However, Wojnarowski cautions that no substantive talks have taken place yet. While Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are aggressive in their offers for Davis, the Pelicans have been in no rush to make that happen.
New Orleans is not going to do the Lakers or Davis any favors. There is little incentive for the Pelicans to rush a deal in the next week when they could have more suitors driving up the price this summer, namely the Boston Celtics.
Boston has a lot of young players and draft picks they could offer in exchange for Davis. The Lakers have an impressive group of young players themselves but do not have the draft capital available to them that Boston has. If New Orleans is looking to acquire draft compensation for Davis, the Lakers could be outbid.
While it sounds like the Pelicans are reluctant to deal with the Lakers, you can be sure that they will keep trying right up until the trade deadline.