J-Speaks: Lakers and Pelicans Make Along Waited Blockbuster Trade

Entering the summer of 2019, there were two NBA teams in need of change. In Southern California, the 16-time NBA champions were in need of another game-changing player to get them back to relevance, while in the “Big Easy” the team was in search of the best compensation for a perennial All-Star that no longer wanted to be a part of their organization. On Saturday both teams made a transaction that got them each what they were looking for. 

In the first domino to fall in what will be the busiest off-season in NBA history, ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the New Orleans Pelicans traded perennial All-Star Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for former No. 2 overall picks in lead guard Lonzo Ball, forward Brandon Ingram, swingman Josh Hart and three future First-Round picks-which includes the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, which is Thursday from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY at 7 p.m. on ESPN, presented by State Farm. 

“You knew he was going to go to the Lakers at some point,” NBA on TNT studio analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said Saturday night about the trade on NBATV. “I think New Orleans did as good as they could do under the circumstances.” 

Back in February the two teams tried to broker a deal where the 26-year-old Davis would go to L.A. but that deal fell apart. 

The other factor is they had a man steering their front office in the new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations steering the ship. He laid out there what he wanted to get for Davis. An All-Star, a young player with All-Star potential and two First-Round picks. 

The other factor that made this trade work between these two squads the second time around is that any of the other 28 teams that acquired Davis in a trade he would play for them for just that one year of his contract and he would be out of dodge to L.A.  

For the Lakers, this trade gives them one of the most dynamic talents in “The Association,” in the heart of his prime years, whose vast array of skills will fit well alongside fellow perennial All-Star, three-time NBA champion and four-time Kia MVP LeBron James, who will turn age 35 this December.  

It also puts the Lakers in position to not only end their six-year playoff drought, the longest in franchise history but they are in the conversation of contending at least on paper for an NBA title, especially with the five-time defending Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors not having two key pieces to their team next season in two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant, who will be on the shelf for possibly all next season because of a ruptured Achilles and perennial All-Star Klay Thompson because of a torn ACL that will sideline him for at least six months. Both are about to enter unrestricted free agency at the end of this month.  

“LeBron James is one of the best players in the history of the NBA, but he is also a diminishing asset,” host of ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” Rachel Nichols said in the opening monologue of Monday’s edition. “because he is well ‘a human,’ and we know how humans age.” 

“If you don’t look to maximize him now, in the year he’s turning 35 there’s really no point to have even signed him.” 

How happy was James with the deal for Davis, on his Instagram page @kingjames, that had a photo of him and Davis in Lakers colors wearing jersey No. 21 saying, “AD on da way!! @antdavis23 [smile emogi]. Let’s get it bro! Just the beginning… [crown emoji] #LakeShow.” 

There is good chance that this pairing will win a title if you look at James’ past history when he pairs with another perennial All-Star. 

In the summer of 2010, James took his as he mentioned in the televised ESPN show “The Decision,” James took his talents to “South Beach” and joined future Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat. That resulted in four straight trips to The Finals from 2010-14 and two straight Larry O’Brien trophies in 2012 and 2013. 

Four years later he returns to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he teams up couple more All-Star players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who the Cavaliers acquired in a trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Love and Irving averaged 26.1 and 20.8 points per game respectably the previous season. That resulted in another four straight trips to The Finals and in 2016 won the city of Cleveland’s first pro sports title since the Cleveland Browns led by Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown won that season’s NFL title in 1964, beating the then defending NBA champion Warriors in seven games. 

“Listen, you got LeBron [James]. You got A.D., you’re in the conversation because this thing has flipped on its head the last week. KD out for next year. Klay out probably for next year also” Barkley also said on Saturday. 

“It makes them a power player in the West, but I still like Portland [Trail Blazers]. I like Denver [Nuggets]. The [Houston] Rockets are going to be right there. So, this doesn’t make them automatically the favorites.”  

To bring to light who the Lakers acquired in this blockbuster deal, Davis in his first seven NBA seasons has registered averages of 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks on 51 percent shooting. He is just two of six players to average 23 points and seven rebounds per game since 2013. Davis and James, along with 2018 Kia MVP James Harden (5) of the Houston Rockets and two-time Kia MVP Stephen Curry (3) and 2014 Kia MVP Kevin Durant (3) since the 2012-13 NBA campaign have been selected three-plus times to the All-NBA First-Team selections, and are to of five players to have made the All-Star team in each of the last six seasons. 

Davis has also on three occasions in his career led the NBA in block shots per game. In his two playoff appearances in 2015 and 2018, totaling of 13 games has averaged 30.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.8 steals. 

For James, this addition also means that his streak of most consecutive seasons of leading his team in total points could end next season at 16 in a row, one shy of Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did it from the 1969-70 season to the 1985-86 season and Karl Malone, who did it from the 1986-87 season to the 2002-03 season with the Utah Jazz.  

It also shows that after Lakers legend and Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson stepped down as President of Basketball Operations that general manager Rob Pelinka can deliver the goods in turning the team into a contender. 

This was a team that after a big time win on Christmas Day 2018 at the Warriors went from No. 4 in the West to missing the playoffs as mentioned for a sixth consecutive season.

Injuries, specifically to James, who missed a career-high 27 games this past season and disfunction from the team from the front office to the roster took its toll. The out-of-the-blue press conference that “Magic” Johnson held right before the Lakers last game of the regular season back in April where he stepped down as team president. The back-and-fourth he and Pelinka had through the media about who stabbed who in the back first. It got to the point where at the introductory press conference that when new head coach Frank Vogel, the Lakers third choice to be their head man on the sidelines that topic came up that Pelinka had to address. 

On top of that, the hiring of the assistants in Hall of Famer Jason Kidd and former head coach with the Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets Lionel Hollins got a lot more attention. 

For the Lakers, this trade is a major gamble. They mortgaged their future on them re-signing Anthony Davis next summer, more on that in a momentarily and sending draft assets that can he in the lottery or late in those upcoming drafts. 

That said as Nichols also noted in her aforementioned opening monologue as teams that win titles like the Raptors did thanks to acquiring now two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs, with no assurances he would re-sign take huge risks. 

“You don’t gamble you don’t win,” she said. “So, if you want to be in it you have to take some of these kinds of gambles.”

For the Pelicans, this trade clears the air for them of a player, very talented and did some amazing things for them who wanted to leave the “Big Easy” for a bigger market in either L.A. or the New York Knicks. 

The wheels were set in motion of this happening when the 26-year-old Davis parted ways with his former agent and signed with James’ agent and founder of “Klutch Sports” Rich Paul. 

In January it was leaked that Davis told the Pelicans back in January he was not going to sign a super max contract extension and that he wanted to be traded.

“I gave everything I feel like I could. I feel like it’s my time to move on,” Davis said to the media the first month of the new year. 

In February, during the All-Star draft selection show on TNT, James with his first pick in the Second-Round chose Davis. 

James was asked by NBA on TNT's studio analyst Ernie Johnson jokingly that if he wanted him to be his teammate? James’ answer, “Uh, you know, I’m pretty sure of that.” 

Milwaukee Bucks’ forward and Kia MVP to be Giannis Antetokounmpo then asked, “is that tampering?” 

James replied while laughing, “Tampering rules does not apply on All-Star weekend.” 

The team had tried to deal Davis before the trade deadline back in February but nothing came to fruition and he sat out over two weeks before returning to the lineup playing on average just 22 minutes before he was shut down the final seven games of this past season.

In a nationally televised game where the Pelicans lost to the Lakers 123-117 on ESPN back on Feb. 27, where James hit the game-clinching three-pointer play-by-play analyst Dave Pasch noted of the look Anthony Davis made when that shot went in, which color analyst Jeff Van Gundy said of it, “That’s my boy. I’m going to be playing with him next year.” 

Perhaps the biggest indicator of that Davis’ days being in New Orleans were numbered was when he came in to clean out his locker at the end of this past season back in April with a T-Shirt that had on it the concluding slogan for the ending of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons of “That’s All Folks!” 

As Wojnarowski put it on Saturday, “This is a monster hall for the New Orleans Pelicans.” 

That hall included getting a player next to Holiday in Ball who can some of the ballhandling pressure off of All-Star lead guard Jrue Holiday. Two years ago, when the Pelicans made the playoffs and swept the Trail Blazers in the opening round, they had Rajon Rondo and Holiday as the starting backcourt and they created havoc for the opposing starting guards of perennial All-Star Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. 

In Ingram, if he recovers well from the blood clot found in his arm that cut his season short the Pelicans have a dynamic forward who can score and play make for others.   

In terms of draft assets, Griffin got those three First-Round picks in the No. 4 overall pick in this Thursday’s draft to go along with the No. 1 overall pick they won in the 2019 Draft Lottery in May, where they are almost assured to select freshmen sensation Zion Williamson out of Duke University. 

“The idea of some lob passes between Lonzo and Zion Williamson, that’s pretty exciting,” Wojnarowski said over the weekend. 

According to multiple reports, the Pelicans in the Davis deal acquired a top-eight protected pick in the 2021 draft, which will become an unprotected selection in 2022 if it does not convey. The Pelicans also have the right to swap First-Round picks with the Lakers in 2023, while also receiving an unprotected 2024 First-Round selection that the Pelicans can defer to the 2025 draft. 

In terms of what to do with the No. 4 overall pick for Thursday’s draft, the Pelicans can look to move that pick and get more picks, like from Atlanta Hawks, whose First-Round picks for the upcoming draft are in the No. 8, No. 10 and No. 17 spots or get an established player or two. Then there is the possibility of using that pick to draft the likes of guard Darius Garland from Vanderbilt University, Jarrett Culver from Texas Tech University or De’Andre Hunter from the University of Virginia. 

“It gives them an opportunity here to even expand this trade, whether it turns three First-Round picks into four, five or brings in more talent to pair with Zion Williamson, Jrue Holiday,” Wojnarowski said on the Sunday morning edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter.” 

“This is now a Pelicans roster potentially that should be right back in the playoffs in the Western Conference and a formidable group, especially if Zion is everything New Orleans expects he will be.” 

Then there is the timing of the trade of when it becomes official. If the Davis deal becomes official on July 6, it would benefit the Pelicans because their salary cap space would go from $15 million to $19 million to go out and get some veteran talent to make a playoff push for next season after missing out on the postseason this past NBA campaign. If the trade happens on July 30, that cap space shrinks back down to $15 million.   

For both teams, the real work begins. For the Lakers, it is about filling out a roster which now consists of just James, Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Moritz Wagner, and Isaac Bonga. 

The combined salaries of James ($37.4 million) and Davis ($27.1 million), who combined total of 1,664 games played for next season total $64.5 million, while Wagner (43), Kuzma (147) and Bonga (22) will make a combined $5.4 million with a combined total of 212 career regular season games under their belt. 

Davis, who will enter next season on the final year of his current contract plans to re-sign in the summer 2020 with the Lakers, where he could be offered a projected five-year, $205.3 million max deal according to Wojnarowski. Davis said that he plans to re-sign with the Lakers next summer. A lot can change in a year though.  

The most important thing for Davis is to remain healthy starting next season and going forward. In his first seven seasons with the Pelicans, he has missed on average because of injury 15 games. 

“This is what he wanted when he asked for a trade back in January prior to that February trade deadline,” Wojnarowski said. “He finally gets it and the Lakers get a cornerstone to build their organization around even beyond the LeBron James era. 

The more immediate issue now for the Lakers is to fill out the remainder of the roster with the kind of talent and depth that can turn them into a serious contender. 

When the trade is made official, which can happen as soon as July 6, the Lakers will have a projected $23.6 million in cap space left to fill out the roster, which includes Davis’ $4 million trade bonus down, which he can either accept or decline, according to ESPN’s Front Office Insider Bobby Marks. If the trade is accepted on July 30, the Lakers would have $32.5 million in cap space to use in free agency. 

The other factor in all of this as ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne said on “NBA: The Jump” on Monday is that if the Pelicans trade the No. 4 overall pick before Thursday’s draft, the team that receives that pick will have a major say in when the deal gets done because if the trade goes through on July 30^th that player would not be eligible to play for that team’s Summer League squad.  

The Lakers first target in free agency, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times have their sights on filling out their roster by signing unrestricted free agent in three-time All-Star guard Kemba Walker. The 29-year-old, who is eligible for a super max deal of five-years at $221.3 million if the eight-year veteran is offered that by the Charlotte Hornets, where he has played the first eight seasons of his career. 

If the trade goes through on July 6, that would take the Lakers out of the running to sign Walker, who averaged a career-high 25.6 points per game last season could offer Walker a max deal for four years at $140.6 million. 

It would also take the Lakers out of the running to sign Irving, who is assured to opt out the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent and will command top dollar of a salary next season of $32.7 million. 

If the Lakers complete the swap and acquire Davis on July 30, then they would have the necessary cap space to sign either Walker or Irving. 

“Well personally I would love to see Kyrie join LeBron again,” Hall of Famer and six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen said on “NBA: The Jump” on Monday. “I think instantly it gives them an opportunity to win and win now, but its whether or not Kyrie wants to sacrifice, and its whether or not A.D. wants to sacrifice $4 million.” 

“So, winning is important to these guys and I see them [James and Davis] coming together but the Lakers need some outside shooting. And I think having LeBron and A.D., there going to attract free agents. May not be the best of the best. But guys that want to win and want to play for the Lakers there not going to have any problem attracting guys.”  

The most pressing need for the Lakers to take care of this off-season is to get more perimeter shooting.

According to Second Spectrum, the Lakers were dead last, No. 30 in the league in catch-and-shoot three pointers at 34 percent during the 2018-19 season. Davis by himself shot 38 percent on catch-and-shoot threes this past regular season. There will be a plethora of shooting guards to choose from like Danny Green, who helped the Toronto Raptors win their first NBA title last Thursday over the Warriors. Terrence Ross, who helped the Orlando Magic make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2012 or JJ Redick, who has been a huge part of the Philadelphia 76ers’ playoff appearances the last two seasons, where they won 52 and 51 regular season games respectably. 

The possible signings of Green and Redick if those were to take place would give the Lakers still $12.3 million to still use according to Marks, which would give them the opportunity to sign for a second stint Brook Lopez, who played a major role in the Milwaukee Bucks achieving the best record in the East and making it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2001. They lost to the previously mentioned NBA champion Raptors in six games in the Conference Finals. 

If things pan out for the Lakers in free agency if they makes those kinds of moves, they would be over the salary cap by $1.6 million.

NBATV analyst and former Vice President of Basketball Operations and Assistant General Manager for the Portland Trail Blazers from 2007-2010, said that the Lakers current situation reminds him of when the “Big Three” of James, Wade and Bosh assembled together with the Miami Heat and how Pat Riley had the luxury of all three coming at once where they each took as Penn put it a “haircut” of their maximum market value, which freed up an extra $15 million to get guys like Mike Miller, Eddie House, James Jones and Mike Bibby.

“This is going to be more challenging for Rob Pelinka,” Penn said Saturday night on NBATV about adding high quality people like how the Warriors, the Heat from the start of this decade and the Cavaliers during their four-year run were able to add. “It’s really going to depend on what types of players choose to go. But at least there’s the perception that L.A.’s back.” 

Penn added that the Lakers would be better suited to go after free agents who play important roles for them, especially when the chance to compete for playing time will be available. 

“Any smart veteran knows when LeBron is humming, and you put another MVP candidate next to him, the game is easy for you,” Penn said, “you can get your minutes. You can get your touches, and you can get your glory. So, I think L.A. is intriguing and they’d be better taking that $27 to $30 million bucks and spreading it across a bevy of talent.” 

Penn also said that with the Davis deal, it takes the possibility of adding Irving out of the mix, especially since he would be the third wheel essentially on the team. He feels that Irving if he chooses to leave the Celtics and sign with another team that he will likely go the Nets. 

“He’s always struck me as one of these guys-even as accomplished as he is that he’s just still on the rise. On the climb, looking for his own legacy,” Penn said. “His own situation and I think he’s still destined for big city that way.”  

In the early stages of this new year, the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans where trying to execute a trade that felt would help them both that did not work out. 

Thanks to some things falling into place for both teams, like the Pelicans having the right man in David Griffin in the front office with a clear plan, both teams were able to execute a trade where they both feel they got what they wanted. 

The Lakers got that second star in Anthony Davis to pair with LeBron James, who they hope can lead them to a championship next season and beyond, if as mentioned they can re-sign him next summer to be the headline star when James eventually retires. 

For them it is all about finding the right fit in terms of signing players who can play alongside James and Davis, who can specifically shoot and play defense.  

Say what you will about Ingram, Ball and Hart, they were players that the Lakers drafted to make them better in the future and they said goodbye to them as well as three First-Round picks. That is a huge gamble that they hope pays off. 

The Pelicans are positioned to not only draft who they hope is their star for years to come in Zion Williamson this Thursday night but they will surrounded him with a stellar two-way guard in Jrue Holiday and young talents in Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart, and possibly another young player if the Pelicans keep that pick fourth overall pick and the future picks, which they can either use down the following year or swap them out for the next handful of years.

More than anything what the Pelicans did with this trade is give themselves a brighter future where they can possibly be in the playoff mix in the rugged Western Conference beginning in the 2019-20 season.  

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 5/23/19 3 p.m. edition of "NBA: The Jump," with Rachel Nichols, Byron Scott, and Kendrick Perkins; 6/15/19 www.nba.com story via Twitter and Media reports, “Reports: Pelicans Agree To Trade Anthony Davis to Lakers;” 6/16/19 12 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Chris Miles and Mike Fratello, with reports from Charles Barkley NBA.com’s Shaun Powell, and Tom Penn; 6/16/19 12 a.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with John Buccigross and John Anderson, with reports from ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski and NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks;  6/16/19 8 a.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with Elle Duncan and Matt Barrie, with reports from ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski and NBA Front Office Insider Bobby Marks; 6/17/19 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump,” with Rachel Nichols, Ramona Shelburne, Scottie Pippen, and Dave McMenamin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Penn; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010-11_Miami_Heat_season.