NBA Rumors: Pelicans Bring Forward Anthony Davis Trade Deadline, Reveal Demands

The New Orleans Pelicans are stepping up trade talks for Anthony Davis as they are keen to get a deal over the line at the earliest. They have begun considering offers after the power forward made it clear he wants out this summer.

Pelicans beat writer Andrew Lopez had revealed recently that the New Orleans franchise was keen to at least have a deal in place before the 2019 NBA Draft on June 20 so they could use the draft picks the team acquires via the trade for Davis. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, however, revealed during a recent appearance on Sportscenter that the team has moved up its timeline.

The NBA insider said on Sportscenter that the Pelicans “hypothetically” want to have a deal in place by this coming weekend, so they can plan for the 2019 Draft, which happens on Thursday. They are exploring various options on the table but the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks are said to be Davis’ preferred choices.

Wojnarowski claims that the Lakers are the “leader in the clubhouse” as Davis has shown interest in committing his long-term future to them when he enters free agency in 2020. The Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks are also expected to make a proposal for the forward.

Pelicans’ new executive vice-president of basketball operations David Griffin is keen to get the best deal possible and to that affect, he is said to believe that no one team possesses the assets to make the deal and are hence exploring multi-team trade scenarios.

“For example, those sorts of scenarios could include the Lakers helping to find a team that hypothetically values Los Angeles' young players more than New Orleans does,” Wojnarowski wrote on ESPN, “or New York could flip its two first future first-round picks via the Dallas Mavericks into players the Pelicans prefer. New Orleans seems determined to be creative in constructing a deal to maximize the return on Davis, one of the NBA's elite talents.”

The Knicks and Lakers hold the No. 3 and No. 4 picks in this year’s draft and that is likely to be part of any offer they make to sign Davis. The Pelicans hold the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft while the Memphis Grizzlies have the No. 2 pick.

The ESPN report claims that Griffin is looking for a mix of players and picks in the Davis trade deal. The Pelicans are said to want the deal to include an All-Star player, a young player with All-Star potential and two first-round picks. And they will compromise on the picks depending on the quality of player offered by interested teams.