Anthony Davis Trade Rumors: Latest on Potential Pelicans-Knicks Deal

Anthony Davis may have interest in the New York Knicks as a long-term destination, but the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly aren't interested in what the Knicks have to offer in a trade.

At least not yet.

According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, "League sources believe the Pelicans don't see the Knicks as having a strong enough package to offer for Davis, unless they win either the first or second pick in May's lottery."

On Wednesday, Marc Stein of the New York Times reported that Davis has the Knicks on "equal footing" with the Los Angeles Lakers in terms of preferred long-term destinations: 

And Berman wondered if a possible package of "[Kevin] Knox, [Frank] Ntilikina, the Knicks' 2019 lottery pick and Dallas' 2023 first-rounder [would] do the trick Thursday? The Knicks have the expiring contracts of Enes Kanter or Wesley Matthews to throw in a deal to make the salaries work."

The Knicks could also potentially dangle Dennis Smith Jr. or Mitchell Robinson in trade talks, but for the Pelicans, there's little reason to do the deal now.

For one, the Knicks' 2019 pick will obviously be far more valuable to the Pelicans if it's No. 1 overall, or at the very least in the top three. But trading Davis now could also potentially improve the Knicks enough to hurt those lottery odds, devaluing the asset in the process.

Waiting also allows other teams to get into the proceedings. The Boston Celtics can't make an offer until the summer unless they put Kyrie Irving in the package because of a quirk in the collective bargaining agreement, so the Celtics remain out of the running. But given their bounty of draft picks and the possibility of including Jayson Tatum in a trade, they could potentially offer New Orleans the best overall package.

The Los Angeles Clippers, armed with Miami's 2021 unprotected pick, their own lottery pick this year if they miss the postseason and enticing young player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are another team that could make a solid offer in the offseason. And perhaps a surprise team will emerge.

The market for Davis isn't going to get smaller in the summer, so the Pelicans can afford to wait.