Anthony Davis sent the NBA into a frenzy of chatter on Monday when his agent, Rich Paul, announced through ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that his client has informed the Pelicans he won’t sign the supermax extension this summer and has requested a trade from New Orleans.
That chatter is sure to reach NBA locker rooms as well, as what will happen to one of the NBA’s best players is certainly of interest to many players that could wind up getting shipped to New Orleans for him.
The situation is complicated, though, and a Davis trade may not happen before next week’s deadline. In fact, it would make a lot of sense for some teams to have the Pelicans wait into the summer in order to field offers from the most teams — and know who has the best 2019 draft assets to offer.
One thing that’s clear for Kevin Durant, however, is that the players are on Davis’ side when it comes to the initial trade request. Durant was asked on Monday about whether the decision came up in the Warriors’ locker room and his response explained not only why players talk about trades and other league news but also why they generally support players when trade requests get made.
Kevin Durant asked about Anthony Davis’ trade request and to what extent players talk about NBA news. KD keeps it in perspective: “AD wants to play somewhere else. It’s not like the president shutting down the government.” pic.twitter.com/uHxd9XUdeI
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 28, 2019
Durant’s first point is actually pretty funny: compared to the other kinds of news they could talk about, NBA trade requests are actually pretty silly.
“It’s definitely a topic of conversation. All NBA news is, it’s not that serious, so why not talk about it?” Durant said. “Its AD wanting to play basketball somewhere. It’s not like the president shutting down the government. It’s basketball.”
His larger point, however, is that players know how short an NBA career can be. That’s why they almost always come down on the side of a player when these things happen.
“We all as players, we want guys to do exactly what they want to do in this league,” Durant said. “We have a short amount of time, so why not do what you want.”
For those thinking of course Durant would support player movement given his own transactional history, well, yes consider the source. But the sentiment is likely the same across most NBA locker rooms. Players support one another in these moments because they know owners still have a significant bit of power over league labor with the draft and restricted free agency. Under the current set up, Davis is simply using the first bit of agency he’s been granted under the current labor landscape, and he’s doing the Pelicans a minor favor by informing them of his plans before they miss out on a chance to get some return for their franchise player — although, it’d be a better favor if it were not announced so publicly.
Now it’s up to the Pelicans to figure out what they want to do. Durant, and the rest of the NBA, will certainly be talking about it until they decide.
