This past week we have been reporting that Anthony Davis has requested a trade out of New Orleans and would like to go to a team like the Los Angeles Lakers, where he would get to play with LeBron James. In response to this, the Pelicans issued a statement where they had this to say:
"This past weekend, Anthony Davis' representatives informed us that Anthony does not wish to sign a contract extension with our team and subsequently has requested a trade. Although we are disappointed in this decision our organization's top priority is to bring an NBA championship to our city and fans build our team for long-term success.
Relative to specific talks of a trade, we will do this on our timeline. One that make sense for our team and it will not be dictated by those outside of our organization. We have also requested the League to strictly enforce the tampering rules associated with this transaction."
Now it is being reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that the Pelicans have had an inkling for some time now that Davis would eventually ask to go somewhere else and decline to sign a 5-year $240 million super max contract. While appearing on ESPN Radio, Wojnarowski said "I know they have feared this coming for some time. I don’t believe they were blindsided. I think, within that organization, there was a lot of sentiment that this was inevitable, that it could very well happen before the trade deadline."
The NBA trade deadline takes place on February 7th so it will be interesting to see how this situation is revolved in the coming weeks.