The trade deadline may be over, but the Anthony Davis drama continues to swirl around the Boston Celtics in the aftermath of a demand to be dealt by the New Orleans Pelicans.
After reports circulated during trade deadline week that the Celtics were not on the list of preferred destinations (Knicks, Lakers, Bucks, Clippers) for his next team, Davis did his best attempt at damage control on Saturday afternoon at All-Star media availability after being asked directly about Boston.
“I never said they weren’t on my list,” Davis said.
Before Celtics fans got too excited about the development though, Davis further clarified his stance in an interview with NBATV on Saturday by opening the door to essentially everybody.
“All 29 teams are on my list,” Davis said. “I don’t have a preferred destination. I just want to win. Big market, small market, I don’t care. I want to win. Whatever team I get traded to, I’ll make the best of it, and then when free agency comes, we’ll see what happens,” he said. “I can’t tell the future, but all 29 teams are on the list. I never gave a destination. Anthony Davis has never given a destination for where he wants to play.”
So what exactly is going on here? It’s hard not to see a game being played by Davis and his camp when it comes to his future. Three thoughts.
1. Davis saying he will play anywhere seems like a bit of favor to the Pelicans: If winning is the ultimate priority for Davis, it’s hard for him to honestly say that there are 29 other teams on his list. However, it’s important to keep in mind all of these comments from a Pelicans' perspective. They can’t deal Davis until the regular season ends now and the best way they can maximize their return for the All-Star is to drum up a bidding war. Having a preferred list of four teams surface when the majority of those squads simply don’t have the assets to get an appealing trade done is a nightmare scenario for New Orleans when it comes to maximizing value. The Knicks’ offer solely depends on a 14 percent chance they fare well in the lottery. The Bucks will still have nothing to deal this offseason (all of their top prospects are free agents), while the Clippers added a couple pieces to their stash (Landry Shamet, a couple future first round picks including 2021 Miami) in the Tobias Harris but still don’t have anything that could be a cornerstone piece for New Orleans.
The Lakers know they can outbid all of these teams this offseason in all likelihood, but as we saw at the trade deadline, they aren’t going to bid against themselves. Obviously, former general manager Dell Demps was counting on the Celtics emerging this summer as a bidder to help create a better return for Davis but coming off his initial list could bringing more suitors in the fray as well. Davis is talented enough where it could be worth any potential contender to roll the dice on him, even if it’s for just one year. Perhaps, a promising season or being won over by the culture (as Paul George was in Oklahoma City) can convince Davis to stay long-term. There’s no guarantee it will but these latest remarks open the door on that front and may convince other suitors to get into the bidding this summer.
2. From Boston’s standpoint, this should not change much of anything for them, since this is the attitude they were counting on from Davis for all along. Any move for Davis will involve risk, but it may be necessary for the future of the franchise if a Davis acquisition is necessary to ensure a future commitment from Kyrie Irving in free agency this summer. How this postseason concludes will likely go a long way in determining whether that type of drastic move is truly necessary, which will put this roster fully under the microscope for the next few months.
The question for Danny Ainge in regards to Davis was not whether he was going to get into the bidding but how much was he going to be willing to give. There’s no question that the team’s performance through April, May and perhaps June will influence that. Will he put Jayson Tatum on the table of this team makes a deep run to the NBA Finals? Conference Finals? Can the Celtics supporting cast outside of Tatum play well enough for the next few months to allow Ainge to outbid teams with Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Robert Williams and a bunch of draft picks? These are all questions that are likely being thrown around the Celtics front office and won’t have clear answers until June. The Celtics remain a clear frontrunner for the Davis derby in June but they have to figure out how far they are willing to go with their assets without a long-term commitment from the All-Star.
3. How does the firing of Pelicans GM Dell Demps impact future negotiations on Davis? The Celtics probably weren’t thrilled to see the veteran general manager get shown the door last Friday, however, they owe him for making his last order of business (keeping Davis on the roster through trade deadline) a move that was highly beneficial for Boston. The Pelicans pulling the plug on Demps now though makes sense since the ex-GM created this mess with Davis by failing to put a consistent playoff team together. Handing out big contracts to the likes of Omer Asik and Solomon Hill has been crippling to the franchise while some bad luck (trading Buddy Hield for a year of DeMarcus Cousins before he suffered a torn Achilles) have not turned out well either.
Either way, whatever happens with Davis will set up the direction of the franchise for years to come, so you want to make sure you have a person you trust making that decision. Demps wasn’t that guy anymore for New Orleans so they turned to Danny Ferry as interim GM for now, likely with the goal of getting someone in place by the end of the season to make the move.
A couple of names have already been floated as targets for New Orleans, including assistant C’s general manager Mike Zarren and former Cavs GM David Griffin. Both guys have strong ties to Danny Ainge (Griffin was his video coordinator when Ainge coached in Phoenix). It’s hard to envision Zarren walking away from Boston now (he’s turned down multiple head gigs before) but Griffin feels like a real possibility if he gets complete control from ownership.
How will a new name impact the eventual negotiations? It’s hard to tell right now but the Celtics still look like a team with the most assets to give across the league. They may get squeezed for more value by a general manager looking to salvage whatever he can from a top-5 player in Davis. However, it’s hard to envision any new boss looking to make a “win-now” move with this deal. That may have hurt Boston in prior negotiations (i.e. Kawhi Leonard in San Antonio) when teams decide they prefer an aging All-Star over future promise. As long as the Pelicans want to go young in some form, Ainge can offer more picks or emerging young talent than most expected suitors across the league, which could seal any eventual deal.
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- Great landing spot for Markieff Morris in Oklahoma City. He should take plenty of Patrick Patterson’s minutes off the bench and help them stretch the floor with the bench unit. That might be the second best team in the West come playoff time.
- I’ll always be curious about what the Celtics would have looked like for this playoff run if they traded away Terry Rozier and freed up some minutes at the reserve point guard spot for a buyout candidate. Jeremy Lin just signed with Toronto after they lost Fred Van Vleet for a month, but I feel like Lin could have be a fun fit in Boston if the opportunity was there.
- Great to see Isaiah Thomas make his season debut for the Nuggets last Wednesday. Denver already had an embarrassment of riches in their backcourt with Murray, Harris, Beasley and Monte Morris. Head coach Mike Malone will be challenged to balance minutes within that group, but Thomas looked far better than he did in most games last year. Patience may have paid off for him.
- Rumored C’s target Enes Kanter inked a deal with Portland last week, who had a hole at backup center. The C’s will still add a name but I’d expect nothing to get done until Aron Baynes’ health situation becomes more clear after the All-Star break.