The New Orleans Pelicans Won the Anthony Davis Trade

The Los Angeles Lakers may have won in the short term, but the New Orleans Pelicans are poised to become a dynasty after trading away superstar Anthony Davis.

When LeBron James came to the Los Angeles Lakers he made it clear that he wanted to win now. At the tail end of his peak, James didn’t have time to wait for the promising young Lakers team to be ready, so he orchestrated a blockbuster deal for superstar Anthony Davis.

The New Orleans Pelicans received a treasure trove in exchange, getting most of the Lakers’ young core as well as three first-round draft picks, including the 4th pick in the 2019 draft. They were able to trade the 2019 pick for Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a future protected first round pick. The Pelicans also received Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart in a trade that was widely regarded as a win/win for both teams. The Lakers got another superstar to pair with LeBron and the New Orleans Pelicans got one of the best young cores in the NBA.

With a full season nearly in the books, the Los Angeles Lakers are running away with the Western Conference behind stellar play from their two superstars, while the young Pelicans are trying to claw their way into the eight seed after a miserable start to the season that saw prized rookie Zion Williamson on the bench with an injury and the team mired in a 13-game losing streak.

The Lakers are right where they want to be, a championship contender with a chance to re-sign Davis for the long term, so it would be easy to look at the standings and say that they won the trade with the Pelicans.

But with the Pelicans surging behind generational-talent Zion, it appears as though New Orleans may actually walk away from the trade as the big winner. Here’s a breakdown of how the New Orleans Pelicans won the trade that sent Davis to the Lakers.