Pelicans reportedly trade Anthony Davis to Lakers, Celtics come up short in bidding for superstar forward

The biggest domino in the 2019 NBA offseason has now fallen, with superstar forward Anthony Davis set to head west and join LeBron James in Los Angeles.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Davis has been traded to the Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including what will be the fourth overall pick in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft.

Saturday’s news stands as the conclusion of a bidding war between the Lakers and Celtics, with both rivals vying for the chance to add a franchise player like Davis to the mix.

For Boston, news of Davis’ move out west and Kyrie Irving’s potential departure to the Big Apple (or other franchises not named the Celtics) puts Danny Ainge and Co. in a tough position going forward this summer, with a team that seemed poised for an NBA Finals appearance back in September now likely set for a long development window with both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way.

On paper, it looked as though Boston



had the resources to at least match whatever deal the Lakers managed to toss in front of David Griffin:

Jayson Tatum (signed through 2020-21 before RFA)
Jaylen Brown (signed through 2019-20 before RFA)
Marcus Smart (signed through 2021-22 before UFA)
Robert Williams (signed through 2021-22 before RFA)
Semi Ojeleye (signed through 2020-21 before RFA)
Terry Rozier (restricted free agent, sign-and-trade possibility)

No. 14
No. 20
No. 22
Memphis pick

All future unprotected first round picks

However, Marc Stein of the New York Times noted in the minutes following the Davis trade that the Celtics refused to offer Tatum in any deal involving Davis, allowing L.A.’s monster haul to stand alone as the most tantalizing offer for a Pelicans club ready for a rebuild.

It’s easy to see Ainge and the Celtics’ rationale when it comes to holding onto Tatum, even at the cost of Davis (and now potentially Irving) moving on to another club.

Parting ways with a potential franchise piece in Tatum would be risky when it comes to Davis, who made it well known through his agent, Rich Paul, that a trade to Boston would largely be viewed as a one-year rental, with the star’s sights set on L.A.

While losing out on Davis might be the Celtics on the backburner now in terms of viable title contenders for next year (and barring some other major moves, for the next couple of seasons), Ainge noted earlier this week that the Celtics have multiple contingency plans ready for what should still be an eventful offseason in the NBA.

“There’s a domino that would fall if it was my world and wanted to do everything that I wanted but it doesn’t work that way, so we’re just prepared for lots — like right now, today, we’re preparing for the draft,” Ainge said. “We’re preparing to make draft picks and at the same time, this afternoon, we’ll probably be looking at possible trade of those draft picks and having conversations with people around the league. So it’s all going on right now. There’s a lot of discussion. We have a variety of ways we can make our team different, and hopefully better, and we’re looking at those options.”