The Los Angeles Lakers could look much different in about a week as rumors about their trading for disgruntled New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis continue to heat up.
It’s unclear what a package for Davis would look like and whether the big man will even be traded ahead of the February 7th deadline. But it does seem clear that the Pelicans have their eyes set on one Lakers prospect in particular.
Following via Tania Ganguli of the LA Times:
According to sources, the Pelicans view Ball as a player who would become the starting point guard. They don’t see Jrue Holiday as a point guard because he “doesn’t want to be a point guard,” one source said.
The sources said the Pelicans would play Ball 35 minutes a night and make sure he “would fit” in with New Orleans so he could become a star.
Ball might be the Lakers player with the highest ceiling and potentially even the best member of the young core, right now. It makes sense that the Pelicans would want the young point guard in a trade for their franchise icon. It also could mean that New Orleans is willing to trade with LA, something that the San Antonio Spurs (and others) were unwilling to do in their own quest to offload a star player.
It could also be posturing from the Pelicans, who could hold out until July to trade Davis, allowing them to get offers from the Boston Celtics and potentially whomever drafts first overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Ball’s camp reportedly prefers that the Lakers trade him to a third team rather than the Pelicans because of concerns over a crowded backcourt next to Jrue Holiday. This recent report may be the Pelicans way of ensuring Ball does not try to force his way elsewhere so that they could build around the sophomore guard.
