Anthony Davis being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers was one of the biggest moves of the entire NBA offseason and had a domino effect on the rest of the NBA. Not only did the Lakers benefit from the trade, the New Orleans Pelicans, Davis’ old team, got assets and good young players going forward that will establish a successful culture in the coming years. Dave McMenamin, a writer who covers the Lakers for ESPN, took a deeper dive into the Anthony Davis trade saga and and gave us a better understanding on how the trade came together.
Dave starts off the article with Davis spending the end of his summer night losing his wallet and not being able to track it down, even after recounting the steps of a night that ended at the movies. He talks about the trade request that Davis made at the end of January and how it backfired, leading to an end of season turmoil with the Pelicans. Gayle Benson, the Pelicans owner, didn’t want to trade Davis to the Lakers, yet it was truly her only real option. It helped the Lakers that the Pelicans replaced their previous GM with David Griffin, a championship winning GM who wanted the best package available for Davis.
McMenamin goes into a deeper dive of Davis’ relationship with LeBron James, a player AD has long admired and even went to his camp when he was in high school. It’s a perfect pairing, and both have gone out of their way to make sure they are comfortable with one another. LeBron even offered Davis the number 23, a number that is famously associated with both players. Both players want to be all in and on the same page for this upcoming season, a season inspired by hopes of a championship.
I thought Dave’s analysis of the entire situation through the trade was great coverage and gave us insight in just how intense negotiations were during the process. If that trade doesn’t happen, the entire landscape of the NBA is different. For the Lakers, their window for winning a championship is now. For the Pelicans, they have as good a future as anyone. A true win-win for both teams. Dave highlighted both of those extremely well.
A link to Dave’s article:
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