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.
After considering the possibility of shutting down All-NBA center Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans plan to allow Davis back into the lineup for the rest of the season, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2019
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.
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2019
Sources: Despite Pelicans concerns about its prized asset possibly getting injured and losing value on trade market, league office had concerns about Pels forcing a healthy star to sit out rest of season. Still, Pels decided they wanted him back on floor, which Davis wanted too. https://t.co/8RneKskfCy
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2019
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.
