On Wednesday, New Orleans Pelicans vice president David Griffin met with Anthony Davis in Los Angeles in an ongoing attempt to convince the superstar to stay in New Orleans. Davis requested a trade from the franchise that drafted him last February but trade negotiations between the Pelicans and Lakers stalled before the deadline.
Griffin took over the job from Dell Demps this summer and has routinely said that the team will try to change Davis’ mind before attempting to trade him. Davis is an upcoming free agent in 2020 so the Pelicans would have, at most, until the February trade deadline to trade him or risk losing the transcendent star for nothing.
Despite the somewhat pressing timeline, Griffin seems to be in no rush as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pelicans have not engaged their suitors – namely, the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks and Celtics – on trade talks since his hiring, although Griffin was seen speaking to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka at the NBA Combine.
Nevertheless, Griffin’s attempts to keep Davis may be in vain as The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that it is “unlikely” that Davis will change his mind:
While New Orleans Pelicans executive Vice President David Griffin and All-Star Anthony Davis‘ agent Rich Paul will continue discussions, it’s highly unlikely Davis‘ stance changes on trade, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2019
Griffin obviously has to do his due diligence. Davis is a superstar and with the Pelicans winning the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and, effectively, the rights to Zion Williamson, there really isn’t a package out there that equals Davis’ impact. No one can fault Griffin for trying and Woj does report that the two sides are exepected to continue meeting.
But ultimately, this process has been drawn out for so long and Davis has turned a fanbase against him. It does not really make sense for him to now suddenly change his mind and stay in New Orleans. Whether he will try to force his way to one destination over the others is the only decision that he has to make right now.
