Anthony Davis won’t be a free agent until 2020, but dating back to the summer of 2017 there’s been chatter about where he goes next. As seemingly always happens with a star in a smaller market, the expectation of fans of teams like the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks, and other major market teams is that once their first extension expires they’ll angle their way out to go to one of those destination franchises.
There’s reason for this belief, because we’ve seen it happen plenty in the past — although the most recent example of Paul George pushed his way out of Indiana only to stay in Oklahoma City. Still, it’s a point of frustration for fans of a team like the Pelicans, who, at the very least, would just like to enjoy their time watching a generational talent such as Davis play for their team.
That’s not the way the NBA business works though, so when Davis flipped his representation to Klutch Sports the rumors of Davis’ impending departure from New Orleans only picked up steam. Last year, it was all about whether the Celtics would be willing to package enough of their young talent to pry Davis from New Orleans in a trade — even though the Pelicans have been adamant they will not trade their star for anything.
This year, the buzz is around Davis pushing his way to L.A. to play with Klutch Sports’ most famous client, LeBron James, who recently spoke about how amazing it would be to play with Davis. That only fueled the fire, and on Wednesday night after the Pelicans lost to the Bucks — with a trip to L.A. up next — Davis spoke with Zach Lowe of ESPN and shrugged off LeBron’s comments.
“I don’t really care,” Davis told ESPN of James’ comments Wednesday night after the Pelicans’ 123-115 loss to the Bucks. “Obviously, it’s cool to hear any high-caliber player say they want to play with me. But my job is to turn this team around. If we’re 15-17, that means I’m not doing my job.”
It’s absolutely the right thing to say, which to Davis’ credit is what he’s done all along. He’s regularly professed his love for the city of New Orleans, the place he’s called home for the entirety of his professional career, and did so again with Lowe.
“I love my teammates. I love New Orleans. I love the fans. I talk their slang. I love their food.”
That comment was in response to a question about his upcoming opportunity to ink a supermax contract with the Pelicans, to which he responded “we’ll see,” which, again, is the right answer. Davis likely is torn about his future, with part of him wanting to remain in New Orleans and try to build off the foundation he’s helped build with the Pelicans. At the same time, the reality of the situation is that the Pelicans likely won’t be able to bring in a complementary star in the immediate future, and in the West that likely means a ceiling of a second round playoff appearance will remain.
There’s no easy or right answer for Davis, as he’ll have to manage to figure out what is the most important thing to him in all of this. There are so many factors that go into a free agency decision (or decision to request a trade) and this summer he’ll have to come to terms with those when that $230 million offer is staring him in the face.
The immediate money is with New Orleans. His heart might be with New Orleans as well. The immediate chance to win titles is probably elsewhere, and if L.A. is his preferred destination, there may be more off-court opportunities to recoup some of what’s lost in passing up the supermax. None of this is easy, and unfortunately for Pelicans fans it’s going to play out somewhat publicly in the form of rumors of his next destination until his signature is on a new contract in New Orleans. That’s life in the NBA for a smaller market team. Davis’ lack of firm commitment is far from confirmation of his departure, but it does highlight the difficulty of the decision.
