Pelicans prevent Anthony Davis from making return to lineup, Davis might file grievance if he’s held out past trade deadline

On Monday, Anthony Davis was medically cleared to make his return for the New Orleans Pelicans after missing the last eight games. Despite this, Davis didn’t play against the Indiana Pacers, or in his homecoming in Chicago on Wednesday night.

Why? Because the Pelicans prevented him from doing so, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, who is reporting that the Pelicans plan on sitting Davis until the trade deadline on Feb. 7, even though Davis has expressed he wants to play:

Davis, 25, eagerly wanted to suit up at home against the Indiana Pacers after recovering from a left finger avulsion that sidelined him for a little more than two weeks, sources said, but the organization elected to keep him inactive. There’s the impression that his absence could potentially extend until the conclusion of Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, sources said.Anthony Davis wants to play, but the Pelicans reportedly won’t let him until after the NBA trade deadline.

Should the Pelicans hold Davis out past the deadline, Haynes said Davis will consider filing a grievance against New Orleans for sitting him (H/T Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype):

“It’s possible they’re going to hold [Davis] out until the conclusion of the trade deadline and even possibly after that if he remains a Pelican. There’s a chance during the second half of the season, I was told, that they would probably look to shut him down to a certain extent … If it does get to that point where he’s still a Pelican after the deadline and the organization decides to make that move on sitting him down, that’s where I think we’re in uncharted territory. And I know for a fact [he] will probably file a grievance.”

Davis has every right to want to play basketball. After all, it’s what he gets paid to do and before he got paid to do it, he did it just for fun.

That being said, there is absolutely no benefit for either party involved to have Davis play another second in a Pelicans uniform.

Not only would it be awkward because he’s already asked out, with each crowd and his teammates knowing that Davis is suiting up for an organization he doesn’t want to be with, but he risks injury every time he steps on the floor. And if Davis suffers a serious injury before the Pelicans get a chance to trade him, the offers for him this summer will be significantly less appealing than they’re expected to be.

The Pelicans might be a poorly ran organization, but they’re not wrong to want to sit Davis for the rest of the season. Alternatively, they can just trade him to the Lakers and call it a day — that is also an option.

Suffice to say, things could get really, really interesting over the next 24 hours and beyond, regardless of what happens at the trade deadline.

Keep track of all the latest Lakers rumors until the trade deadline here. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.