The Anthony Davis news from yesterday has started a bit of a snowball effect around the NBA.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski on SportsCenter, the Klay Thopson would be intrigued to join the Lakers if they were to acquire Davis via trade. Other factors however would additionally have to fall in place which would include the Golden State Warriors not offering a max deal to the sharpshooter and Los Angeles was able to at least come close to a max deal by opening up a slot.
According to Woj on SportsCenter right now, Klay would be really interested in the Lakers if LA deals for AD and open up a close-to-max slot in FA. And this is also presuming that GS doesn’t offer Klay the full max.
— Ben Rosales (@brosales12) January 29, 2019
Monday, Anthony Davis’ agent Rich Paul announced that his client wouldn’t be interested in signing a long-term deal with the Pelicans and that his client preferred to be traded. Currently Davis is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2020.
…”our organization’s top priority is to bring an NBA championship to our city and fans build our team for long-term success. Relative to specific talks of a trade, we will do this on our timeline. One that make sense for our team and it will not be dictated by those outside…” https://t.co/InAp332vtV
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 28, 2019
Moreover, sources have further told Woj that if Davis is dealt by the Pelicans prior to his deal running out, he would not re-sign with any other team other than the Lakers which undoubtedly decreases his value to any team other than LA.
After agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports told ESPN on Monday that he had informed the Pelicans that Davis wouldn’t sign an extension this summer and wanted a trade, multiple league sources expect the agent and star to soon deliver word throughout the league that Davis’ preferred destination is the Lakers and he’ll become a rental player until 2020 with a trade anywhere else.
As far as Klay goes though it’s not inconceivable that he ends up with the Lakers considering his Father Mychal Thompson‘s history with the team. However it was also his father that told Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle that “Klay’s going to retire in the Warriors’ uniform.”
Although Klay’s interest in the Lakers obviously goes well beyond any family connections to the team. What Thompson envisions is an open perimeter for himself given the attention that LeBron and Davis would command while all three are on the floor. Continuing to benefit from something like this similar to what he currently enjoys now with Golden State with Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Steph Curry while also getting something close to a max contract is without a doubt an ideal situation for the 28-year-old.
Not to mention a team with a big three of James, Thompson and Davis could certainly tilt the scale in the Lakers’ favor in the West, especially if the Warriors end up seeing themselves depleted with the departure of Klay and potentially Green and Durant.
Still though, the first piece of the puzzle in order to make this happen for the Lakers is somehow getting Davis in tow. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that the LA brass met Monday to discuss a plan to make a trade offer to New Orleans for Davis. Haynes noted that any “package would almost have to include Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma along with other sweeteners and salary-cap fillers.”