Unfortunately, LeBron will get his way. Again.
And the daily soap opera that is the NBA has sucked me in, yet again. Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans, and, 'coincidentally' has some backroom ties to LeBron James. Also 'coincidentally,' Davis has supposedly stated that he only wants to go to the Lakers. So Davis to the Lakers is almost inevitable.
No matter what the pundits say though, the Pelicans do have some leverage. They either get a whole new starting line-up to build around Jrue Holiday or no trade. Jrue Holiday will be the future that the Pelicans build around, but they aren't trading Anthony Davis without getting an all-star in return. The Lakers can only trade young talent. That's where the Cleveland Cavaliers come in.
The Pelicans don't want over-hyped Lonzo Ball, no matter how great the Lakers say he's going to be. They don't want to piss off their cornerstone player Holiday, so the Pelicans will get the Lakers' best 4 young players not named Ball. But where to get an all-star, relatively cheap?
I think the Cavs are willing to dump Kevin Love for a marginal player and multiple draft picks. In my scenario The Pelicans would trade their 1st round pick in 2019 to the Cavs. The Lakers would trade their 2018 first round pick (Wagner) and their 2019 first round pick to the Cavs. The Cavs in this scenario would have traded Love for 3 first rounders and Mirotic.
Davis throws a tantrum and wins. The Pelicans win (or the closest they're going to get to a win) by getting a 5 time all-star and a boatload of young talent. And the Cavs win by....
Well, the Cavs don't win. By the time their young talent is ready to do anything, Love would have been too old to help. So the Cavs are going to be atrocious for the next 3-4 years and play for draft picks and hope for the best. Even in this scenario, the overmatched Koby Altman will still find a way to muck things up. The Lakers will win more now and the Pelicans will win more now (if Kevin Love stays healthy.)
Remember, the pressure is on the Lakers to trade everyone now or lose their shot at Davis. I think Magic Johnson knows this better than anyone.
I'm not saying this is what should be done. I'm saying what will be done. The Lakers need that third team to grease the skids. Instead of the Cavaliers, the Lakers and Pelicans could find a different third party, but I'm telling you, before the trade deadline, Anthony Davis will be a Laker and the the Lakers will have traded away 6 or 7 players and draft picks to get him.
If, for some reason, Kyrie is traded to the Lakers to be reunited with Lebron, as a Cavs fan, you know what will happen?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That will be me!
The NBA will have a lifetime enemy in Fred Hunt. Don't give me this gibberish and gobbledygook that if James and Irving are re-united it will be Dan Gilbert's fault. You'll get Why the NBA Sucks articles for a year straight.
Why would the Celtics trade Irving? He's unhappy in Boston.
Editor's Note: Not every day. Maybe once a week for a year.
You know who else is unhappy? Me. Writing about the NBA.