LeBron’s ties to Pelicans’ David Griffin won’t affect Anthony Davis trade

With the New Orleans Pelicans hiring former Cleveland Cavalier’s GM David Griffin, speculation has begun that this could point to Anthony Davis joining LeBron James in Los Angeles via trade. Lakers fans, don’t get your hopes up.

Last week, the New Orleans Pelicans made more waves throughout the NBA when they added highly coveted front office executive, David Griffin, to be their new Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. The highest order of business for Griffin right off the bat is finding the best possible trade partner for the estranged Anthony Davis.

It’s been no secret that there is a surplus of mutual interest between Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers since AD initially made his trade request to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Lakers tried and failed before the trade deadline to make a deal happen for the all-star forward from the Big Easy.

However, with this David Griffin hire in New Orleans, many are speculating that this front office change for the Pelicans could get the Lakers back into the running for AD’s service. The main reason for this growing belief? David Griffin and LeBron James have a ton of respect for one another, dating back to when Griffin was the General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers just a short while ago.

Griffin was the man largely responsible for making all of the moves that eventually led the Cavs to winning a championship in 2016. Because of all of this history and the respect between the two, some are now growing to believe that the new David Griffin hire in New Orleans could signal that LeBron’s Lakers might be allowed to throw their hats back into the ring and ultimately win the Anthony Davis Sweepstakes.

However, despite their favorable past, David Griffin does not owe LeBron James anything. The belief that Griffin would trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers for anything less than the best offer out of all 29 teams just because he has a history with LeBron is outlandish. It would be a terrible business decision for Griffin and the Pels to ship AD to LA just for old time’s sake, and it would instantly sour the fanbase and potentially Gayle Benson on the Griffin hire from the get-go.

Make no mistake, if the Lakers end up with a Top 2 2019 NBA Draft pick and are willing and able to package it along with some other assets, they could potentially outbid some of the other Anthony Davis trade suitors. However, Lakers fans and the media seem to be looking into this David Griffin hire a bit too much if they think it signals LeBron’s team is now the AD frontrunner.

David Griffin is going to take whatever Anthony Davis trade offer is best for the New Orleans Pelicans, period. If the Lakers end up putting together the best package of assets, so be it. However, there is no reason at all to assume LeBron and the rest of LA now have a leg up on the competition just because his old GM holds the cards to Anthony Davis’ future.