NBA Rumors: Are Lakers Out Of The Anthony Davis Race? How LA Could Still Get AD

Last week’s NBA trade deadline came and went without the New Orleans Pelicans putting Anthony Davis on a flight to Los Angeles. Despite weeks of rumors that the Lakers were willing to give up nearly everything to land the superstar big man, the Pelicans never got the offer they were looking for.

Conventional thinking since then has favored the Boston Celtics to land Davis after the regular season. Boston has more accomplished young players to deal away than the Lakers. But according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, that could change in the near future and nobody should count out the Lakers just yet.

Windhorst posited that one way the Lakers could put themselves at the forefront of the Davis sweepstakes is to simply include a third team in trade talks. Lakers GM Magic Johnson accused the Pelicans of not acting in good faith prior to the deadline. According to Windhorst, it is possible trade talks never got far enough for the Lakers to potentially include another team in the deal.

The Lakers were reportedly ready to give up their entire young core of Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram for Davis. That package would have included first-round draft picks, as well. The Pelicans did not bite because they apparently did not want those players.

However, other teams might. If the Lakers could find a way to ship those players off elsewhere for other assets to use in a trade with the Pelicans, they could potentially land Davis like they originally planned.

At this point, that might be for the best. It is possible some or all of those young players would like to play somewhere else after the trade drama surrounding them in recent weeks. There has been speculation that the trade talks distracted the Lakers, who have lost three of their last four games by double digits.

Their margins of defeat in those games were 14, 42 and 23. The only positive moment in the past four games was a one-point win at the buzzer over the Boston Celtics.