It’s become no secret around the NBA that Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans. Davis has one more year left on his contract, and it feels like a forgone conclusion that Davis would not re-sign with the Pelicans were he to reach free agency in 2020. Therefore, the Pelicans have listened to offers for Davis and it feels imminent that Davis will indeed be traded, possibly as soon as draft night. Teams like the Knicks and Lakers are being listed as potential favorites to win the NBA championship next season by https://www.maxfreebets.co.uk in large part because they are rumored to front-runners in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. However, the Pelicans’ draft night positioning is exactly why they should not trade Davis.
After the Raptors won a championship with Kawhi Leonard in a similar situation to Davis, it’s understandable why teams would be trying to snag Davis, even if it only for one season. However, the Pelicans should strongly consider keeping Davis for the final year for the same exact reason. New Orleans shockingly won the NBA Draft Lottery, gaining them the number one overall pick on draft night. Since the first game of this past college basketball season, everyone has known that Zion Williamson would be the prize that whichever team who won the lottery would claim on draft night. Williamson has been called the best NBA prospect out of college since Anthony Davis himself.
Davis clearly wants to pair up with another superstar to try to win a championship. The Pelicans should be asking themselves if Zion Williamson is that superstar who Davis would be willing to play with, potentially for the long term. Davis wants out of New Orleans because he doesn’t feel as though he can win a championship there, but let him play with Williamson for one season and see if he changes his mind. At the least, the Pelicans should consider keeping Davis through the summer and if it becomes even clearer that he will simply not re-sign with them, trade him to a desperate team at the trade deadline next season. Davis’ mind could already be made up and it could be best for the Pelicans to trade him before the situation gets worse. However, with one-year rentals like Paul George and Kawhi Leonard working for the teams that gambled on them, the Pelicans should considering gambling on keeping Davis for one last year in hopes to keep him around for the long term.
