Anthony Davis Trade Rumors: Lakers May Be Preferred Over Celtics

The Los Angeles Lakers might be favorites over the Boston Celtics in trading for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis.

The Celtics have long been linked with Davis and continue to be, while the Lakers are also in the mix as of recent months. But according to NBA insider Chris Sheridan, Davis to Los Angeles has been in the works for years, which seems to indicate they may have the edge over Boston.

Sheridan does add, however, that it doesn't mean a trade to the Lakers is a certainty, especially given the assets Boston has at their disposal. But a trade eventually depends on how New Orleans are doing in the playoff picture, particularly before the February trade deadline. The Pelicans are currently 10-11 and 12th in the Western Conference standings.

The 25-year-old forward has two years and $52 million left on his Pelicans deal along with a $29 million player option for the 2020/21 NBA season so only a trade is possible for now.

Rumors of a potential departure from New Orleans stemmed from when he parted ways with his agent to join Klutch Sports. With LeBron James also represented by them, many connected the dots for a potential Lakers move and Sheridan brought that point up as well.

But Boston should not be counted out. They are probably the most asset-rich team in the league today and could certainly use Davis more, at least going by how their regular season has gone so far. Boston is also said to be his preference.

According to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, a player like Davis, who many view as a top-three player in the league, could command the biggest trade package in NBA history. For the Celtics, a trade package would also have to include Kyrie Irving for this season at least, because of a particular complication.

“I still think the Celtics by far and away (have) more assets than anybody else when it comes to acquiring Anthony Davis — or acquiring anybody in the NBA,” Mannix said, as quoted on NBC Sports Boston. “Anthony Davis is going to require the biggest package of players in NBA history. It’s going to be a Herschel Walker-type of deal to go get Davis."

Last month, Davis spoke of how important winning was for him in New Orleans while also responding to speculation about a potential Lakers move.

"You hear it everywhere, it's funny, how did that [Lakers rumors] even happen? How does that correlate?" Davis asked with a laugh. "You know, in my head, I don't pay attention to it, I keep going back to it but it's the truth, I look at what I have now and what I can do now and that's helping my team win."

"You can't listen to what somebody else is saying, all the white noise, 'AD's going here, AD's going here,' — AD's playing for the Pelicans this year... the rest will take care of itself," he said.

Winning seems to be the focus for Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry as well as he recently responded to rumors surrounding Davis.

“That’s what you guys talk about,” Gentry said. “We don’t talk about it. So he’s here. He’s playing on our team. We’re trying to win games. That’s the only thing that matters right now."

“It’s not anything that I’m going to have a say-so in or anything else, so we don’t bother about it. We worry about winning games and putting everybody in the best situation to win games," he added.