Anthony Davis has made it clear that he doesn’t want the Pelicans to be part of his future. He recently said he would turn down a five-year, $239M super max contract.
The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday and Magic Johnson and the Lakers are in full pursuit of Davis before that deadline. Their latest offer for Davis is Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, two first-round picks and taking on the remaining $12.7M on Solomon Hill’s contract for 2019-20.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pelicans are now comfortable with letting the trade deadline pass. The Lakers are viewing this as one-sided and pessimistic about the potential trade. The Pelicans look like they prefer to let the offseason come and they can negotiate a deal on their own terms.
It’ll be interesting to see if Davis tries to sit out 2019-20. He could face serious fines if so. Regardless though, expect Davis to be gone by the summer. He won’t officially be a free agent until summer 2020. Davis is currently out with a finger injury.