NBA Trade Rumors: Breaking Down League Buzz Ahead of 2019 Trade Deadline
The NBA trade deadline hits at 3 p.m. Eastern on February 7, and several franchises are scrambling behind the scenes to add pieces in order to soften the blow of inevitably losing to the Golden State Warriors at some point in the postseason.
The biggest piece available is New Orleans Pelicans six-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis. Since Davis requested a trade from the Pelicans on January 28, he and his potential suitors have dominated the news cycle.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been the most prominent name next to Davis'. Fans have been feasting on every morsel of information, which is a given, but the Lakers' 42-point loss—the largest loss of LeBron James' career—to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night points to the players involved feeling the heat of trade rumors, too.
The Lakers' most recent offer to New Orleans for Davis, reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday, included "forwards Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, guard Lonzo Ball and two first-round picks, as well as a willingness to absorb the remaining $12.7 million on Solomon Hill's contract in the 2019-20 season."
The Pelicans have not replied to any of the Lakers' offers.
Wojnarowski followed up that Monday report with a tweet early Tuesday: "The Lakers are still glad to engage with the Pelicans on an Anthony Davis trade, but no longer want to bid against themselves, league sources tell ESPN. Lakers are waiting for Pelicans to make a counter-proposal."
The sentiment around the league—from Wojnarowski and beyond—is now trending downward on Davis landing anywhere else before Thursday's deadline. Catch up on the latest information regarding Davis and other trade candidates the Lakers are eyeing plus the Grizzlies igniting a rebuild by dealing their stars.
Anthony Davis May Finish This Season as a Pelican
In addition to the overflowing well of Wojnarowski information, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported:
"The Lakers have pulled out of conversations aimed at trying to acquire New Orleans All-Star forward Anthony Davis because of the Pelicans' 'outrageous' trade requests, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
"Magic Johnson, the Lakers' president of basketball operations, told New Orleans general manager Dell Demps on Tuesday morning that the Lakers had made their best offer, were not willing to add anything else and were done with negotiations."
Turner also noted that the Pelicans were asking for "six to eight draft picks," and L.A. had altered an offer late Monday night to send "their entire young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac ... as well as veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope."
J.A. Adande, who previously covered the NBA for ESPN, tweeted his lack of surprise that the Lakers' likelihood of landing Davis before the trade deadline has broken down.
LeBron James publicly addressed the trade rumors consuming the Lakers when speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon. "Maybe I'm different, but at the end of the day we have a job to do," according to a video from ESPN. "We all know this is a business. ... Right now, this is who we have.
"This is my group, and this is the group I'm trying to lead to go out there and win ball games. ... I've had teammates every year be a part of trade-deadline discussions."
After the Lakers' 42-point blowout loss to the Pacers on Tuesday night, forward Kyle Kuzma told The Athletic's Lakers writer Bill Oram "maybe I should Bird Box" to avoid trade rumors—referring to the Bird Box film and the blindfold challenge associated with it.
Kuzma and every other Laker not named LeBron James will be relieved when the trade deadline passes, as it seems they will still be on the team. However, even if Davis isn't a Laker before the deadline, the discussions involving AD are far from over.
On top of his trade request, which cost him a $50,000 fine from the NBA because his agent Rich Paul made it public, Davis' representatives provided the Pelicans with a list of four teams he would want to sign with long-term.
That list, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, includes the Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.
Charania also tweeted an update on Davis' injury status on Tuesday night—noting that the Pelicans "will re-evaluate their position on sitting Davis if and when the deadline passes with no deal, league sources said."
Davis has not played since injuring his left index finger against Portland on January 18.
Lakers Again Eyeing Trevor Ariza?
After losing Tuesday night, the Lakers sit at 27-27. Sitting at .500 is a failure for a LeBron-led team, and sitting at 10th place in February is a threat to missing the playoffs altogether—unheard of for LeBron James, who has made the NBA Finals eight seasons in a row.
And so, with or without Davis, the Lakers seemingly need to bring someone else in. ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst suggested on his Hoop Collective podcast on Monday that Chicago Bulls forward and former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker could become a Laker before the trade deadline.
Another name floated now by ESPN NBA reporter Ramona Shelburne is Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza.
Ariza has already been traded once this season. After a saga of incompetence involving the Grizzlies and Washington Wizards, Ariza landed in Washington from the Phoenix Suns in mid-December.
The Athletic's Wizards beat writer Fred Katz added insight to Shelburne's report on the Lakers' interest in Ariza. "Ariza loves being on the West Coast and his $15M salary makes him a candidate the Wizards could use to shave luxury tax dollars in a deal," Katz tweeted, "but from what I'm hearing, Wizards don't want to make a trade that makes them worse this year."
Washington has to be even more careful about their assets after the team announced on Tuesday afternoon that star point guard John Wall—who is already out for this season due to a heel injury—would undergo for a ruptured left Achilles tendon after slipping and falling in his home. Wall is expected to be out a full 12 months post-surgery.
Memphis Most Likely to Deal Mike Conley and Marc Gasol
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on January 23 that the Grizzlies were open to listening to trade offers for center Marc Gasol and point guard Mike Conley. Seeing as Conley and Gasol are the two biggest stars of the franchise, Memphis is entering a rebuild.
That rebuild will officially begin once one or both of them are dealt, and that reality is starting to set in for Conley, Gasol and Grizzlies fans.
On Tuesday night at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gasol did not play. However, a video captured by Chris Vernon shows fans giving Gasol a standing ovation once they saw him on the bench.
Conley addressed the trade rumors concerning Gasol and himself, per David Cobb of Memphis Commercial Appeal:
"The fact that he's not playing makes everything all the more real. ... We've kind of been postponing what you think might happen the last couple weeks to get to this point. ...
"But knowing what's possible after tonight is going to be hard for a lot of us, especially myself, knowing how many years we played together and knowing this is basically the last opportunity to be around him in the Grizzlies organization is surreal."
Shams Charania of The Athletic tweeted ahead of Tuesday's Grizzlies game that the Charlotte Hornets were discussing the framework of a deal that would make Gasol a Hornet.
As for Conley, James Edwards III of The Athletic reported on Tuesday that the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons are the front-runners to land the 2007 No. 4 overall pick.
On the periphery, though, is the Toronto Raptors. According to Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated, the Raptors called Memphis offering point guard Kyle Lowry and center Jonas Valanciunas in exchange for both Conley and Gasol.
Conley and Gasol have shared the court together in Memphis since 2008.
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