Porzingis Trade, Irving's Discontent Give Lakers Leverage in Anthony Davis Chase
LOS ANGELES — The Anthony Davis-to-L.A. drum beat rings louder than ever.
The New York Knicks made a bold play on Monday, trading injured star Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks. In doing so, they opened enough space to chase two maximum-salaried players this summer and have given the Los Angeles Lakers further leverage in their chase of Anthony Davis.
Porzingis may be sidelined with a knee injury, but New York traded away its best player with eyes apparently on free agency this summer, when it could look to steal away Kyrie Irving from the Boston Celtics.
Irving's comments to reporters Friday that he doesn't "owe anybody s--t" only give more fuel to speculation that Irving's Boston days might come to a close sooner than expected. In doing so, serious doubts have been cast over what the Celtics could afford to offer in competition with the Lakers for Davis.
"We don't know that the Celtics today are the same Celtics tomorrow," one former general manager said. "If Boston doesn't win the title, Irving may decide to join someone like [Kevin] Durant in New York. Would they give up [Jayson] Tatum and all that if they don't have Kyrie? Would Davis have any interest in playing in Boston without Kyrie?"
What does it mean for the Lakers? The Pelicans now face a key question: Guess what the Celtics might offer in July—potentially without Kyrie Irving there to convince Davis to sign long-term—or take the best offer the Lakers are willing to make before the Feb. 7 deadline.
Per Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers are dangling Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Ivica Zubac and a first-round pick as one of multiple scenarios discussed between president Earvin "Magic" Johnson and New Orleans general manager Dell Demps.
"If that's accurate, the Lakers' offer checks all the boxes," the former executive said. "The Pelicans will be better the next five years after [a trade like that] than they were the five previous with Davis."
While New York added a strong prospect in Dennis Smith Jr. and two future first-round picks from the Mavericks, along with the expiring contracts of DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, the bigger news was the dumping of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee's multiyear contracts. With Porzingis and bad contracts off their books, the Knicks project to have at least $73 million in salary-cap space this summer.
That's enough to offer contracts to poach both Durant from the Golden State Warriors (starting at a projected $38.2 million) and Irving from Boston (at roughly $32.7 million). The Knicks could also pursue other high-level potential free agents such as Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, Khris Middleton, Nikola Vucevic or Marc Gasol.
New York can still try to make a play for Davis before Feb. 7's deadline with the likes of Enes Kanter, Mario Hezonja, Frank Ntilikina and Smith (who can be traded but cannot have his salary aggregated in a trade with the aforementioned names). Perhaps with their own high lottery pick and Dallas' selections, the Knicks would be able to at least make a credible offer to New Orleans.
But would it compare to what the Lakers are reportedly offering up for Davis?
The former GM doesn't believe so. Boston may be the only team that can beat the Lakers' offer, but that's assuming Irving doesn't jump ship, which may be dependent on how the Celtics fare in the playoffs.
Even if the Pelicans—who don't have much of anything by way of long-term prospects—aren't in love with some of the Lakers' pieces, "another team will be," he continued. "The Pelicans would be able to find a nice [additional] trade for someone like Ingram after the dust settles."
Outside of Smith, the young Lakers have shown a lot more promise on the court than any of the other current Knicks who might be available. Even if New York sent its first-rounder to New Orleans before the deadline, at best the Pelicans would only have a 25 percent chance of landing Duke prodigy Zion Williamson.
Instead, the Knicks may focus their attention on free agency, and the name to watch closely is Irving. Per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports on Monday, "There's a growing belief of uncertainty that Kyrie Irving will re-sign with Boston."
The Celtics are the Lakers' biggest competition for Davis, but the NBA's collective bargaining agreement has them unable to trade for the Pelicans star until July, unless they offload Irving before the deadline.
Boston would love to team up Davis with Irving and young forward Jayson Tatum. But they too are willing to go all-in with an offer to New Orleans in the summer, to the point that a deal could include Tatum.
Generally polled, nearly every executive queried believes the Celtics have the greater package, given they can give four first-round picks (likely three in the 2019 draft, including the Sacramento Kings', Los Angeles Clippers' and Boston's own; the Memphis Grizzlies' selection may not convey until a future draft) and pieces such as Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Tatum.
But there's certainty in the Lakers' offer. Boston can't guarantee they'll even be in pursuit of Davis in five months if Irving departs. Another significant factor is Davis' agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who also represents LeBron James.
On Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported, "Multiple league sources expect [Paul and Davis] 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."
The hope would be to box out the rest of the market, paving the way for the Lakers to give a low-ball offer for Davis. If Irving departs for the Knicks, Boston might bow out of the equation.
But the Lakers aren't willing to gamble and are ready to make their best packages available now, even if it means overpaying, to make sure they get the All-Star forward/center. They'd look to avoid the risk of the Celtics getting to Davis and changing his mind to stay in New England. And they'd certainly want to give James his second star well before the 2020-21 season.
New York's blockbuster deal created more uncertainty for the Celtics. Any Irving dissatisfaction may be unfounded, but the Pelicans need to carefully measure the risk/reward of waiting for something better than what Los Angeles is willing to do right now.
"It would also give them time to cash out Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle," the former GM said of the Pelicans' pair of forwards who can hit unrestricted free agency this summer.
The Lakers' reported offer would also need to include another player, such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Lance Stephenson, to match salary. The Pelicans, who have 15 players under contract, would need to make room for anyone coming in via trade or waivers. That could include some of the more economical players on the roster—Ian Clark, Kenrich Williams, Tim Frazier, Frank Jackson, Cheick Diallo, Jahlil Okafor or several others.
While New Orleans may choose to be patient, the Lakers' offer may not be so rich in July, especially if the Celtics splinter in the playoffs and Irving decides to pair up with a player like Durant in New York. In fact, it may be the best return the Pelicans can hope to get out of this difficult situation.
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.
