WELCOME to the all-new Anthony Davis Bowl.
Or as Thursday’s marquee NBA match-up is otherwise known, Lakers-Celtics Part 363.
Ordinarily, the plot line of the league’s greatest rivalry would be about a team in green – with title ambitions rekindled after ten wins from eleven games but with a tough schedule stretch approaching which will need them to max out their potential – taking on a golden crew led by a player with unsurpassed talent but still craving a wingman and a ferocious supporting cast to help him back to a championship.
Such is the current status update in Boston and the Hollywood half of LA.
So on the Anthony Davis situation, if what we’re hearing is true, Pelicans did not negotiate in good faith, possibly with the goal of putting Kuzma, Ball, Ingram etc in trade rumors that would sabotage LA's chemistry this season as revenge for AD’s trade request. This league, man
— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) February 7, 2019
Instead the ancient foes are seemingly locked together in a beauty contest to woo both Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline (at 8pm GMT), a process which might yet be prolonged until the summer should the All Star big’s current team resist the urge to sell now in the hope of finding a better deal in July.
The Celtics, it is said, are not to Davis’ pleasing. Residual dismay at their ruthless jettisoning of Isaiah Thomas, despite the perfect sense that move did make. The Lakers, so the thinking goes, are where he would ideally end up, either via immediate shipment or in free agency in 2020. The ideal foil to share the load as LeBron James writes a final chapter. The building block on whom long-term success can be built.
His landing spot will tilt scales and shift the balance of power in the race to ascend to the throne once the Golden State Warriors finally abdicate. Boston, now decidedly nervous that Kyrie Irving might recant on his pledge to re-sign for the long haul, require reassurance that Beantown is as attractive as destination as any sunspot, despite this season’s failure to launch into the stratosphere.
Currently 13.00 for the championship and 3.50 for the East, the Cs know they must wait until the offseason to make a concerted effort to court Davis’ favour. The Lakers, with Magic Johnson fluttering his eyelashes, can move quickly and decisively and shut out all suitors. And what a statement it would make.
Mired in a slump that continues to leave their playoff hopes in the air (after the largest loss in LeBron’s career, against Indiana on Tuesday, now imagine a scenario where a James-led team can’t even finish top eight in the West – wow!), adding Davis in a monster coup would require such a roster gutting that their short-term hopes would stay patchy.
.@Rachel__Nichols asked if the Pelicans aren't truly engaging with the Lakers and leaking info to make them miserable.@WindhorstESPN says that's what happened. pic.twitter.com/u4zTdkb56t
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 7, 2019
If a last-minute resurrection of talks occurs, it may create the NBA’s new toughest one-two punch, an A-List pairing in Lakerland to match Shaq/Kobe and Magic/Kareem. Immensely fun to watch too.
And it all sums up why the last stretch into the trading deadline provides a formidable signal of the direction of travel for so many teams. No Porzingis, nothing but sinking to the bottom in search of draft picks for the New York Knicks. No Tobias Harris, no post-season for the Clippers whose over-achievement is surely at an end. Exits in Washington suggest they are not ready to pay for mediocrity.
Even minor tweaks at the fringes of rosters in Houston and Milwaukee are probably not going to do too much move the needle.
It takes something sizeable for major change. A Davis move fits the bill. The NBA in 12 months time could look very different and the Celtics and Lakers will trust they will be the ones beautified by any makeover.
Best bet: Go under 210.5 total points in Celtics – Lakers
Sixers loaded
The Lakers, revamped or otherwise, head to Philadelphia on Sunday with Harris’ acquisition from the Clippers set to boost the 76ers’ chances in the East.
More scoring, an outside threat, little to dislike about their midweek trade. Already fourth in scoring at 115.3 per game, it signals the Sixers are going for the title this term, particularly if they can fill out their bench with help off the waiver wires.
At 3.75 for the East, they could yet be a steal and the Lakers the outlet of an early expression of intent, with -6.5 for the hosts worth a punt.
