The Pelicans Have Decided To Play Anthony Davis Following The Trade Deadline


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The Anthony Davis saga produced many fireworks after his trade request went public in late January but, in the end, the New Orleans Pelicans did not ship their All-NBA big man to another team in advance of Thursday’s deadline. The end result wasn’t overly surprising given the options that could be presented to New Orleans after the season but, in the wake of some buzz that Davis could be shut down for the duration of the season despite a clean bill of health, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday evening that the Pelicans will, in fact, let Davis play.

The team announced the decision in a statement, while Wojnarowski reported that the league might not have been keen on a healthy Davis being relegated to the sideline.

There is some risk associated with this decision, as Davis does not have a flawless injury history and the Pelicans will undoubtedly shop him on the trade market when the season comes to a close. However, there is an argument that Davis sitting out for the remainder of the campaign would have been a black eye for the team, player and even the league, leading sanity to seemingly prevail in some sense.

It will be interesting to see how the Pelicans treat Davis with regard to deployment, particularly as New Orleans is on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff race. Still, fans will have the opportunity to see one of the game’s best players again this season and they’ll be able to do so even after the All-Star Game comes to a close in mid-February.