The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to find a second superstar to pair with LeBron James, but they at least have an idea of which player they'd like to fill that role in the future.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski dropped an interest nugget about the Lakers' pursuit of New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis during a recent segment with colleague Zach Lowe.
“Here’s the line [the Lakers] have to walk: they’re not going to give away picks and their top young players in some deal that makes them incrementally better this season because they have got to save all those assets for Anthony Davis, a big trade this summer either pre or post free agency," Wojnarowski said. "That's why they looked at players like Trevor Ariza, guys on one-year deals who don't have money going forward. ..."
Wojnarowski later added: "The absolute dream scenario, people talk about (how) they can trade for Anthony Davis or sign a free agent. The dream scenario is they do both.”
Davis likely is going to be a trade target for several teams, and the Boston Celtics are one team that's been linked to the superstar center in many trade rumors in recent years. Even Celtics fans were doing their best to recruit AD to Boston by giving him a rousing ovation during the starting lineup introductions when the Pelicans came to TD Garden last week.
Davis can be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2020 if he declines his 2020-21 player option, but the Pelicans can offer him a super-max contract extension next July. If he declines that extension, the Pelicans will have no choice but to trade him, and that's when the real fun will begin.
At this point, though, the Lakers and Celtics probably are the teams best positioned to trade for Davis. The Lakers have young, talented players such as Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma to offer New Orleans, while Boston can dangle Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and maybe Jayson Tatum. The C's also could have as many as four 2019 first-round draft picks to pitch.
The Celtics vs. Lakers rivarly has been fierce on the court, but the next battle might come off the floor if/when Davis becomes available for trade.
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