Why the Boston Celtics aren’t out of the Anthony Davis race

The Lakers are desperate

We’ve seen a barrage of news the past few days – from media reporting to blatant announcements from Rich Paul himself, Anthony Davis’ agent. Him and LeBron are trying to get him here now, and for good reason: if they don’t grab him at the deadline, they’re in a seriously precarious position.

After July 1st, assuming Irving opts out of his contract, the Boston Celtics will be able to offer for Davis, a situation that the Lakers assuredly want to avoid. The more time that Demps has to consider offers, the less likely the Lakers will come out on top. If Los Angeles can’t acquire Davis this summer, it puts their immediate rebuild on serious hold, with an obligation to keep max cap space for Davis next year.

These news blasts are a sign of desperation, not of smug assurance. If the Lakers were comfortable with their current situation with Davis, there wouldn’t be a need for such a media circus. They wouldn’t need to publicly leak trade offers, and Davis wouldn’t need to publicly state his desire to go to LA if they thought they could make this deal happen at the deadline with no hiccups.

Demps has no obligation to Davis other than the money he is owed on his contract. It makes the best business and basketball sense to wait until the summer to hear out every offer they can. No amount of media games is going to change that, and the fact that Rich Paul and co. feel the need to do so shows that the Lakers are seriously worried about failing to come up with James’ second star for the third time in a row.

Speaking of which…