Could New Orleans Pelicans add Kyrie Irving to win Anthony Davis back?

If Kyrie Irving leaves the Boston Celtics, could David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans sign him to a contract and win Anthony Davis back over in the process?

Like the New Orleans Pelicans, the Boston Celtics are surrounded by a cloud of uncertainty as they go into the offseason this summer. David Griffin and the Pelicans have to figure out what to do with Anthony Davis, while the Celtics are also at risk of losing their star player if Kyrie Irving decides to take his talents elsewhere in free agency.

Unfortunately for the New Orleans Pelicans, winning the NBA Draft Lottery and securing the rights to select Zion Williamson #1 overall hasn’t done much of anything to change Anthony Davis’ mind about sticking around in the Big Easy. However, if AD’s true desire is simply to win basketball games, he’d be running out of excuses to continue writing the Pelicans off if VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin and General Manager Trajan Langdon can bring in another big name to the roster.

Imagine Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Zion Williamson, and another all-star on the New Orleans Pelicans’ roster. On paper, this is an exciting hypothetical for fans of the team, but would anyone worthy of giving AD second thoughts really consider signing in New Orleans? It’s not historically been a hotbed for high profile free agents, but the future of this team has gone from terrifying to downright promising with how the lottery ultimately shook out, so perhaps the city’s upward trajectory could be enough to lure a big fish this direction.

This is where the Kyrie Irving situation gets intriguing for the New Orleans Pelicans. It’s expected that he’ll opt out of his deal with the Celtics to at least test the free agency market, but outside of that, he’s been a difficult guy to read when trying to figure out what he wants in a team. It wouldn’t be a shock if he stayed in Boston, nor would it be surprising to see him go pretty much anywhere else, large or small market alike.

The Nets, Knicks, Lakers, and Clippers are all landing spots that make sense for Kyrie, but these big market teams seem to always be at the top of rumored preferred destination lists for pretty much any player. Irving is a guy that isn’t worried about spurning typical social norms, and seeing him throw everyone for a loop by picking a team like the New Orleans Pelicans actually seems pretty on-brand for the superstar point guard.

Kyrie has a history with David Griffin, who was the GM for the Cleveland Cavaliers and had the point guard from Duke on the roster for his entire three year stint with the organization. During this time, the Cavs won an NBA Title, so Irving knows that Griffin can build a true contender if that’s something he values in his next destination.

Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving seem to have a good relationship too. They’ve been teammates on the United States’ national team and have been seen hanging out together during many NBA All-Star Weekends. Perhaps the promise of the team’s potential with Kyrie, Jrue, and Zion all running alongside him would get AD to reconsider his desire to leave Louisiana.

It’s a tricky situation, because Kyrie likely doesn’t come aboard here unless AD changes his mind. This is where Griffin and Langdon would have to work their magic and get Davis to buy back in with the promise of them trying to add another superstar like Irving. Financially, it would take some work as well. As it stands, the team isn’t projected to have enough cap space for Kyrie, but if Julius Randle opts out of his deal (as expected), it gets a lot easier for the Front Office to figure out.

The actual odds of Kyrie Irving coming to the New Orleans Pelicans are undeniably low, sure. But no one expected the team to win the NBA Draft Lottery, and no one expected the team to put together one of the best front office’s in the NBA this quickly, either. It would be a minor miracle to pull something off like this to get Anthony Davis to stay, but if anyone can manage it, it’s David Griffin and Trajan Langdon.