The deadline to acquire New Orleans Pelicans start Anthony Davis has come and gone and the LA Lakers are no closer to acquiring Davis. The Pelicans decided to hold on to Davis for some more time and will only put him on the trading block at the end of the season.
Davis had made it clear that he was keen on a trade-off and one of the teams he was interested in joining was the LA Lakers. The Lakers wanted to strengthen their offense and believed that Davis partnering with LeBron James upfront would give them the firepower they needed to be one of the top teams for the next season.
The Lakers ended up making more than one offer to secure the services of Davis but things did not work out. The Pelicans ended up shunning the first offer saying that it wasn’t impressive enough. Media reports suggested that LeBron James was not happy with the Lakers for making a weak offer as he was very keen on getting Davis on to the roster.
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Lakers President Magic Johnson wasn’t very impressed at the way the Pelicans handled things and did not think they acted in good faith during the negotiations or were very professional in their dealings.
The Lakers then went all out and were willing to trade all their young players along with their first two draft picks to get Davis. Even that did not work out and it caused a lot of unnecessary turmoil in the team because the young players at the Lakers knew their management was okay in letting them go.
In a statement, Johnson said
Quit making this about thinking these guys are babies because that’s what you’re treating them like. They’re professionals. All of them. And this is how this league works. They know it, I know it — that’s how it goes.
Johnson showed up to the game on Sunday when the Lakers took on the Philadelphia 76ers and ended up on the losing side with a 143 – 120 score. Johnson spent time with his team and gave them a pep talk.
The Lakers President confirmed that they will not be distracted by the failed negotiations over Anthony Davis and will continue to focus their efforts on the current season and doing well.
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