Anthony Davis and the number one pick are the 2 hottest commodities this summer (excluding the free agents). Both belong to the New Orleans Pelicans since Tuesday’s NBA draft lottery, and that puts the Pelicans in a great, but at the same time tough, position.
Anthony Davis has already requested a trade away from the franchise and a lot of teams are looming to get ‘The Brow’ to come to their city. The number one pick falling into their hands is a great gift, as they now have another potential generational talent to work around in Zion Williamson. The Pelicans now have to do everything in their power to make Zion as comfortable as possible in the Big Easy, because their recent history with superstars hasn’t been great. Let’s now take a look at the teams that are in the best position to have AD.
The New Orleans Pelicans
Already starting with quite a controversial one. Davis has made it clear that he doesn’t want to stay in New Orleans, even with them having the number one pick, according to various reports. But the Pelicans have made adjustments and now have the number one pick, so keeping AD doesn’t seem so unrealistic now.
General Manager Dell Demps has been fired and replaced with David Griffin. Demps seemed very incapable of handling superstar talent players and that is probably one of the reason Anthony Davis wants to leave. David Griffin is a great GM, as opposed to Demps. He was able to put together the championship winning roster around LeBron in 2016, and LeBron leaving just one year after Griffin got fired also shows that Griffin was a more than capable GM.
Griffin has already made it clear that he wants to keep Davis, and now they can make him a great pitch. Let’s not forget, it was just one year ago that the Pelicans swept the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, without even having DeMarcus Cousins. Those Blazers are now in the Western conference finals, so the Pelicans are more talented than what they showed this year.
The Pelicans would have a core of Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis and they could potentially re-sign Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton. That’s a great team on paper and they would be a dominant force inside. Also, the Pelicans can offer AD about 30 million dollars more than any other team. However, it’s not likely the Pelicans keep AD, so let’s look at the next 2 teams.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers’ chances of getting AD increased tremendously when they got the 4th pick in the draft. They can now potentially send a package of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and the 4th overall pick to NO. Of course, giving all of that up seems a bit much, so they can maybe keep some of them, but LeBron isn’t getting any younger and the Pelicans can hold that over them to get more out of them.
On the other hand, AD wants the Lakers, that’s clear. He signed with LeBron’s agent and childhood Rich Paul earlier in the season and had reportedly cited the Lakers as one of his top destinations.
This trade doesn’t make as much sense for the Pelicans as the next one, however. It might have the most talent, but that talent comes at a cost. Both Kuzma and Ingram play at either forward spot, just like Zion, and like I said, catering to Zion is as important as having franchise success at this point, as the 2 might go hand-in-hand. Not to mention that it would take away from Zion’s minutes and his growth would be stunted for quite a while.
The New York Knicks
The disappointment in Knicks fans when they didn’t get the number one pick was best displayed by Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s Get up. After having high hopes and tanking for a year they got ‘just’ the 3rd overall pick and were left highly disappointed.
The best thing that could’ve happened for the Knicks was that the Pelicans got it after they didn’t get it. Now, a team can’t offer the first pick in exchange for AD as they both belong to the same team. With New York being the biggest market in sports they can be pretty sure that Davis will re-sign there next summer as well.
Why would the Knicks’ offer be better than the Lakers’? Like I said, the Pelicans will want to make Zion as comfortable as possible, and what better way to do that than paring him up with his Duke buddie R.J. Barrett? The Knicks will probably have to give up the 3rd overall pick, Dennis Smith Jr., Frank Ntilinkina, Kevin Knox, Allonzo Trier and Mitchell Robinson, alongside other players to match salaries.
Davis on the Knicks will attract even more free agents than Zion, and they even keep their 2 max spots open if they are able to match the salaries. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant have already been heavily linked with the Knicks, and with Davis that team would be an instant contender.
The Pelicans would have a great young team going forward. DSJ would get a lot more freedom than he got playing with Doncic in Dallas or with the Knicks. Knox has already shown flashes of his potential this season with the Knicks, and he’s just 19. The fast tempo of play of coach Alvin Gentry would also be great for DSJ and Zion Williamson, while Mitchell Robinson is already an extraordinary rim defender after just one season in the league.
Talent wise the package isn’t as good looking as the Lakers’ package, but let’s not forget that this would fit way better around Zion and make him more comfortable. They would also be able to trade Jrue Holiday for other younger pieces, as that would be the direction they go in for the future, which would allow them to start Smith, Barrett, Knox, Williamson and Robinson. The oldest player in that lineup is just 21, which means they can grow together for a long time. They also wouldn’t be making a conference rival better, unlike with the Lakers.
Courtside 