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After more than a week of very public trade negotiations, the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans might finally be done talking about Anthony Davis, and not because a deal is imminent.
During ESPN’s “Woj and Lowe Trade Deadline Special,” Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers don’t plan on including an extra first-round pick to their reported offer for Davis, which already reportedly included Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ivica Zubac and two first-round picks.
“The Lakers are losing some hope here that New Orleans is going to really engage them,” Wojnarowski said. “New Orleans has really given the Lakers no guidance as to what it would take, if anything, and I think the message the Lakers have started to get since early this week is that ‘this team doesn’t want to do a deal with us.’
“I was told it needed to start at four first round picks. Right now the Lakers are at two, and I don’t think they’re going to three.”
That might explain why Pelicans general manager Dell Demps hasn’t been rushing to speak with Lakers president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline.
New Orleans GM Dell Demps has had no communication today with Lakers president Magic Johnson on LA's most recent trade offer for Anthony Davis, league sources tell ESPN. Lakers running low on hope that Pelicans will engage them before Thursday's 3 PM trade deadline.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2019
There are a few reasons why the Pelicans might not be responding to the Lakers’ calls.
The first reason could be that Demps named his price for Davis, and isn’t willing to negotiate until he gets it. It’s definitely a power play, albeit a dumb one, and the Lakers don’t sound like they’re willing to go there.
It’s also possible that the Pelicans just haven’t decided whether or not they want to take the risk of waiting to trade Davis this summer. Moving on from the only reason their franchise has been relevant for the greater half of this decade is no easy decision, but it’s one they’re going to have to make eventually. It’s safe to assume they’re going to take their time with it. To the deadline, and maybe beyond:
The Pelicans’ front office did not make the trip to Chicago for tonight’s game vs Bulls. They’re all in Nola, fielding trade offers for Anthony Davis. Expect this decision to come down to the wire: they’re waiting to be impressed by an offer that sets this team up long term.
— Jennifer Hale (@JenHale504) February 7, 2019
There’s always a chance a deal still gets done before the deadline on Thursday, but it’s looking like the Lakers are going to miss out on Davis. Here’s to the summer of 2020, I guess.
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.