Anthony Davis Lakers trade is best case scenario for the Boston Celtics
News broke Monday that Anthony Davis is only considering signing long-term with the New York Knicks or the Los Angeles Lakers. The Boston Celtics would be better off if Davis headed west to play with the Lakers.
No team wants to play a team with Anthony Davis on it four times a season. Double that for a team that also includes Kevin Durant. That is a possibility for the Boston Celtics if the Anthony Davis saga concludes with a trade to the New York Knicks.
On Monday, Shams Charania broke the news that the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers were the two teams will Davis was “focused on” in a trade. That doesn’t mean that one of those two teams will be the one to land his services.
Read between the lines, and you’ll probably see that one of those two teams will be the one to land Davis. Although a team like the Toronto Raptors or Milwaukee Bucks could offer intriguing pieces (Toronto has OG Anouby, Pascal Siakam and Norman Powell as intriguing pieces, Milwaukeee has sign-and-trade options with Kyrie Middleton and Malcom Brogdan), no team is going to outbid New York or Los Angeles on a potential rental.
Not only that, but the Knicks and Lakers also have the #3 and #4 picks, respectively, to give up in this draft. Only the Memphis Grizzlies have an immediate and set-in-stone draft choice better than those two. New Orleans, of course, has the number one pick.
So it’s down to either the New York Knicks or the Los Angeles Lakers, and for the sake of the Boston Celtics, it better be the Lakers.
The Knicks have long been rumored to be signing Kevin Durant. While that may or may not be definite, where there’s smoke there’s usually fire (as LeBron James’ free agency showed us last year). Durant and Davis joining forces in New York could theoretically yield a third max-contract superstar to join them.
If the Knicks were to land their own “big three” players will flock to join a contender that will likely get more press coverage than any team in history. What better way to build your brand than to join a championship contender in the largest market in the United States that finally looks ready to break out of a decades-long title drought.
On the Lakers, Davis could join James and potentially one other star. The difference is the Boston Celtics wouldn’t have to go through them to win a title. Davis and Durant on the Knicks would be the new-age Miami Heat or Golden State Warriors.
dark. Next. Three potential Clint Capela trades
They will rule their conference for the foreseeable future. If the Celtics have any luck, New Orleans Pelicans Vice President David Griffin will deliver James, his old friend with whom he won a title with, the best teammate he’s ever had (with all due respect to Dwyane Wade and no due respect to Kyrie Irving).