The 76ers are out
According to Yahoo! Sports the Philadelphia 76ers are not expected to be involved in the hunt for Anthony Davis. This is probably good news for teams like the Lakers or Celtics because the 76ers could make a very compelling offer to the Pelicans, particularly if they were willing to part with Ben Simmons.
New York is shopping
Marc Berman of the New York Post is reporting that the Knicks have expressed a willingness to trade pretty much anyone on the roster besides Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson. If this is true it would pretty much rule them out of the Anthony Davis hunt as it’s hard to imagine New Orleans getting that excited about a package centered around Frank Ntilikina and a draft pick. Still, the fact that Ntilikina’s name was not mentioned would theoretically make him available and there are all sorts of interesting possibilities out there for the Knicks that don’t touch Knox, Robinson or Pozingis.
All heck breaks loose
With the news yesterday that Anthony Davis informed the Pelicans he wouldn’t sign a contract extension with the team and would like a trade, chaos is swirling. Among the developments that followed that report:
- Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported that the Lakers had essentially already put an offer of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Ivica Zubac and a first-round pick on the table.
- Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports reported that Anthony Davis was not really interested in the Celtics (with the accompanying bombshell that Kyrie Irving re-signing with the Celtics was looking shakier.)
- Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer reported that the Pelicans were putting both Nikola Mirotic and E’Twaun Moore on the block as well, with offers for Davis expected from the Lakers, Knicks, Bucks and Raptors.
- Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN also reported that the Lakers were unlikely to make a deal for Davis before the deadline and that Davis was expected to state his preference for the Lakers so that any other team who traded for him would know that next season would basically be a rental.
- The last ripple, of what will certainly be many more to come, was that Lonzo Ball was not really into playing in New Orleans and would like to be traded to a third team.
The next few days should be very interesting.