The Anthony Davis trade saga continues to drag on. The New Orleans Pelicans are maintaining a holding pattern on a league-altering move while the Finals are still being decided. However, teams have started making moves; the pressure is mounting.
The New Orleans Pelicans are still in negotiations with Anthony Davis and potential trade partners. However, other teams are starting to make moves. David Griffin and Trajan Langdon signed up for the pressures of the job. Those pressures are starting to roll up to the levee.
The pressure in those front office conference rooms just intensified more a the New Orleans summer heat wave. The anxiety could make the windows sweat more than the humidity. The orneriness of damp and twisted underwear will set in as low-ball offers for Davis come in.
And they will come in. The NBA’s silly season has begun. The Brooklyn Nets have traded away Allen Crabbe and, most importantly, his $18 million cap hit. This is the first move in what could be the most active, league-altering off-season in history.
The Pelicans front office is taking notice for several reasons. The New Orleans Pelicans were never interested in Crabbe’s game or his $18.5 million contract. Jrue Holiday is the Pelicans shooting guard, and the Pelicans do not need expensive backup bench players.
The New Orleans Pelicans were interested in the first round picks though, a 17th this year and a protected first next year. Brooklyn sent that package to Atlanta just to clear cap space. Taurean Prince is not that valuable, he is a garnish to the extra cap space entree.
If David Griffin were to Marlo Stanfield the NBA offseason, he could point to this trade as a reason the price of the brick (Davis) just went up. Griffin and Langdon cannot be too greedy though, or risk having to lose the crown (quick rebuild) for nothing at the trade deadline.
The Atlanta Hawks could now rival almost any package the Boston Celtics offer. Brooklyn has weakened the draft picks it could send to New Orleans but did set the floor for asking prices this NBA off-season. Griffin might try to attract a bid from Atlanta to replace the weakened Brooklyn bid.
Clearing cap space was worth Allen Crabbe and two first round picks. Taurean Prince was worth Crabbe and a second round pick. Davis should be worth more than both combined.
Prince was the 12th overall pick just a couple of years ago. He has two years remaining on his deal, depending on if a qualifying offer is issued. He would then be a 27-year-old restricted free agent who hits almost 40% from deep.
The Nets could offer Prince to play wing opposite Williamson at the four and Holiday playing the two. This trade could have been their first step at the big trade. It could have also been the Nets deciding to do off-season shopping somewhere besides the Smoothie King Center.
Prince could also fit alongside two max contract stars in Brooklyn. The Nets could have taken themselves out of the Davis bidding by trading away those draft picks.
They definitely put pressure on the Pelicans to get more for Davis than just a couple of second-tier contributors and a couple of draft picks.