Windhorst: Pelicans Sabotaged Lakers on Anthony Davis Trade as Tampering Payback

The New Orleans Pelicans reportedly participated in some sabotage as Thursday's trade deadline approaches.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst appeared on Wednesday's episode of The Jump with Rachel Nichols and explained the Pelicans never seriously considered trade offers from the Los Angeles Lakers when it came to Anthony Davis as a way of payback for what they saw as tampering.

"It's not just possible, it's what happened," he said.

Davis' agent, Rich Paul, also represents LeBron James. Paul was the one who originally made it known that Davis wanted out of New Orleans.

The Pelicans released a statement following the trade request that said in part, "We have also requested the league to strictly enforce the tampering rules associated with this transaction."

If New Orleans' intention was to mess up the Lakers' chemistry, it appeared to work Tuesday.

Los Angeles lost by 42 points to an Indiana Pacers team playing without Victor Oladipo, which was the worst loss of James' career. The Indiana crowd didn't hold back, chanting at Brandon Ingram that his teammate was going to trade him away:

The Lakers currently occupy the 10th seed in the Western Conference and looked nothing like a team ready to make a late-season playoff push. Instead, they appeared distracted and lost on both ends of the court.

On Wednesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported New Orleans general manager Dell Demps and Los Angeles president of basketball operations Magic Johnson had yet to communicate about the Lakers' latest offer. 

While revenge may be motivating the Pelicans, they have other reasons to pass on a Lakers offer and wait to trade Davis until the coming offseason.

The Boston Celtics—who cannot trade for the six-time All-Star until July 1 because he and Kyrie Irving are both playing under the designated rookie extension provision—could get involved and offer Jayson Tatum and attractive draft picks. The order of the 2019 draft will also be known by then, which would give the Pelicans the chance to weigh the value of individual picks.

In addition, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times cited a "strong belief around the league" the Lakers will still offer Lonzo Ball, Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and two first-round picks because the "pressure to acquire a superstar to pair with James is too great for the Lakers' front office to play hardball with any credibility."

The Pelicans appear unlikely to trade Davis to the Lakers this season, and they may have had ulterior motives in addition to basketball reasons as to why.