Mannix: "rival execs believe Boston makes run for Davis if NO season ends bad"

[JHTruth]

What team wouldn't make a run for this guy??  He's a top 5 player in the NBA.  The ONLY way he ever gets moved is if it gets so bad he assures them he is leaving.  AD seems to like it where he is but you never know.  I expect him to stay.  I just can't see him traded unless the C's get two top 5 picks in the 2018 draft with potential franchise players being available.  And quite frankly I don't think AD on this team gets them over the hump so I'd rather the C's pick those franchise players and build a super team for the next 10 years.

It's a tough call. I imagine we would probably need to send  resigned IT just to make the salaries work which sort of negates a large part of the win-now equation. My guess if we do run at Davis, we trade Brown or Tatum, IT,  a mess of picks, and draft Doncic.

I'd almost just rather draft Bagley and Doncic at this point. It is AD, but man can that team beat tbe warriors?

[Darío SpanishFan]

Why wouldn't AD get this team over the hump?  I just don't understand what some people want sometimes.

It's not inconceivable that some people would rather keep Brown, Tatum, BKN '18, and the LAL/Sac pick if they think that GS is still unbeatable. Yes, I get that adding Davis to our current core would make us a very scary team; but, unless we are pretty much guaranteed a championship (like GS is now), then waiting a couple of years isn't a terrible idea.

Now, if Davis could be had for only two of the above players/picks, then it would make a whole lot more sense to try to add him to our team and compete now and in the future.

Unfortunately, GS pretty much ruined the NBA for a few years. Oh well.

TP. This is the point. Davis is a generational talent, yes. But he's never been able to get his team deep in the season (I know, players surrendering him and that) and there are some ifs.

What if you give Tatum, Brown, Zizic and BRO + LAL 18 for Davis and he has a microfracture injury and gets slowed down for the rest of his career? (See Stoudemire, Amar'e).

What if BRO and LAL 18 give us two top-3 picks? Would you give that package for Davis, but including Ayton or Mamba? They may be not as good as Davis, but in the group of the best young NBA centers. Would you surrender Jayson Taytum, Jaylen Brown, Michael Porter and DeAndre Ayton for ONE PLAYER?

I think this is a question that needs to be thought about.

[mef730]

as would any team with assets.

Right - what's missing in this "report" is any shred of evidence that the Pelicans would actually shop Davis. There's a huge difference between "making a run" and "we're considering trading Davis." I don't see it. If things don't work out with Davis and Cousins, wouldn't the first move to be to move Cousins?

And couldn't you flip this report on its head and say, "The Pelicans are watching the Cavs season closely, and if it seems the Cavs don't have enough pieces, they will make a run at Lebron, who could opt out after this season"?

IMO Davis is mostly a pipe dream as I don't think he'll become available while we still have the draft assets.

all it takes is Davis to say "I want out." He has virtually every annoying hothead on his team now. Missing the playoffs and playing with annoying players creates a disgruntled star.

Dear AD,

I know you wouldn't have much leverage in a trade but, if you have any say in the matter, I'd like you to take a look at how the Celtics are treating Paul Pierce. #justsayin

Mike

[JHTruth]

Why wouldn't AD get this team over the hump?  I just don't understand what some people want sometimes.

It's not inconceivable that some people would rather keep Brown, Tatum, BKN '18, and the LAL/Sac pick if they think that GS is still unbeatable. Yes, I get that adding Davis to our current core would make us a very scary team; but, unless we are pretty much guaranteed a championship (like GS is now), then waiting a couple of years isn't a terrible idea.

Now, if Davis could be had for only two of the above players/picks, then it would make a whole lot more sense to try to add him to our team and compete now and in the future.

Unfortunately, GS pretty much ruined the NBA for a few years. Oh well.

TP. This is the point. Davis is a generational talent, yes. But he's never been able to get his team deep in the season (I know, players surrendering him and that) and there are some ifs.

What if you give Tatum, Brown, Zizic and BRO + LAL 18 for Davis and he has a microfracture injury and gets slowed down for the rest of his career? (See Stoudemire, Amar'e).

What if BRO and LAL 18 give us two top-3 picks? Would you give that package for Davis, but including Ayton or Mamba? They may be not as good as Davis, but in the group of the best young NBA centers. Would you surrender Jayson Taytum, Jaylen Brown, Michael Porter and DeAndre Ayton for ONE PLAYER?

I think this is a question that needs to be thought about.

Honestly I would have a hard time giving up more than the Brooklyn pick, Smart, and some filler. Of course I am a sucker for young talent, knowing full well it needs to develop for 4-5 years to realistically win in the NBA. But man, AD seems like such an amazing talent but his teams suuuuuccckkkk. Did KG ever have someone as good as Boogie to play with? And it didn't improve the team at all!!! They had basically the exact same winning % before and after the trade.

It all comes down to (assuming some lotto luck of course):

Would you rather try to win now with a team of:

IT/Rozier/Hayward/Horford/Davis with a 2-3 year window

or in 4-5 years with a 10-year window with:

Doncic/Brown/Tatum/Bagley or Porter/Zizic

AD would cost us most likely all our young talent plus more picks. I know it's AD here, but I would have a hard time parting with all that..

[JHTruth]

Why wouldn't AD get this team over the hump?  I just don't understand what some people want sometimes.

It's not inconceivable that some people would rather keep Brown, Tatum, BKN '18, and the LAL/Sac pick if they think that GS is still unbeatable. Yes, I get that adding Davis to our current core would make us a very scary team; but, unless we are pretty much guaranteed a championship (like GS is now), then waiting a couple of years isn't a terrible idea.

Now, if Davis could be had for only two of the above players/picks, then it would make a whole lot more sense to try to add him to our team and compete now and in the future.

Unfortunately, GS pretty much ruined the NBA for a few years. Oh well.

TP. This is the point. Davis is a generational talent, yes. But he's never been able to get his team deep in the season (I know, players surrendering him and that) and there are some ifs.

What if you give Tatum, Brown, Zizic and BRO + LAL 18 for Davis and he has a microfracture injury and gets slowed down for the rest of his career? (See Stoudemire, Amar'e).

What if BRO and LAL 18 give us two top-3 picks? Would you give that package for Davis, but including Ayton or Mamba? They may be not as good as Davis, but in the group of the best young NBA centers. Would you surrender Jayson Taytum, Jaylen Brown, Michael Porter and DeAndre Ayton for ONE PLAYER?

I think this is a question that needs to be thought about.

You're forgetting that it looks like this years draft will include Bagley, also considered a generational talent along the lines of LeBron/AD.

You could be dealing away that guy for AD if Brooklyn is the worst team again. TOUGH call..

[td450]

I would much rather Ainge spend major assets to get Marvin Bagley. I think that could be done for
 significantly less. Anthony Davis is awesome, but he doesn't make anyone around him better.

Whether the current group competes for a title depends on whether any of our young assets takes the leap any time soon. That could happen. I'm OK with that.

I'm not OK with cashing in on the young assets to go all in now. Anthony Davis is awesome, but he's not a LeBron or a Bird or a Magic. The group you described would still have a window defined by IT and Horford, not AD. He needs significant help to win, so such a trade only opens up a 3 year window.

[kozlodoev]

Hardest part would be matching salaries.  Jae and....?

Crowder, Morris, and two of Tatum/Brown/Smart.

Alternatively, Crowder+Morris+Tatum+Rozier works as well (if only barely), and may be more palatable in terms of keeping the team competitive.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

[saltlover]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

It sort of depends what you think the baseline for the Pelicans would be without him.  I personally think they would have challenged Brooklyn for the worst record last season but for Davis.  4 of their top 6 players in minutes, aside from AD and Holiday, were Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier, and Dante Cunningham.  Would any of those guys have had a greater role than Jerebko on last year's Celtics?  Number 7 in minutes was Terrence Jones, whom they just cut outright in the middle of the year, and was then cut again by Milwaukee a few weeks later, and is out of an NBA job at present.  The Pelicans did not have a lot of talent last year.  Yes, they eventually got Cousins, but he only played in 17 games.  Players should only be expected to elevate their teammates so much.

[JHTruth]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

It sort of depends what you think the baseline for the Pelicans would be without him.  I personally think they would have challenged Brooklyn for the worst record last season but for Davis.  4 of their top 6 players in minutes, aside from AD and Holiday, were Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier, and Dante Cunningham.  Would any of those guys have had a greater role than Jerebko on last year's Celtics?  Number 7 in minutes was Terrence Jones, whom they just cut outright in the middle of the year, and was then cut again by Milwaukee a few weeks later, and is out of an NBA job at present.  The Pelicans did not have a lot of talent last year.  Yes, they eventually got Cousins, but he only played in 17 games.  Players should only be expected to elevate their teammates so much.

We'll have to see what they do this year. If they seem stagnant again, AD will have to shoulder some of the blame. With Jrue and Cousins, they should win at least 40ish.. If they can't they need to really reconsider their roster and coaching..

That said, AD will probably be retained and they'll start over everywhere else..

[Smokeeye123]

as would any team with assets.

would you pull the trigger? Could 4 1st round picks do it ?

Nope. Would likely take four plus either Jaylen or Tatum.

Say we hypothetically get #1 and #2 in next years draft which has like a 1% chance of happening. I still think it would take #1, #2 and one of tatum/brown to do that deal...

...And I'd still do it

[kozlodoev]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

There's no comparison. As a 21-year-old, Anthony Davis was the best player on a 45-win team. The second best guy on that team was Tyreke Evans.

[saltlover]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

It sort of depends what you think the baseline for the Pelicans would be without him.  I personally think they would have challenged Brooklyn for the worst record last season but for Davis.  4 of their top 6 players in minutes, aside from AD and Holiday, were Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier, and Dante Cunningham.  Would any of those guys have had a greater role than Jerebko on last year's Celtics?  Number 7 in minutes was Terrence Jones, whom they just cut outright in the middle of the year, and was then cut again by Milwaukee a few weeks later, and is out of an NBA job at present.  The Pelicans did not have a lot of talent last year.  Yes, they eventually got Cousins, but he only played in 17 games.  Players should only be expected to elevate their teammates so much.

We'll have to see what they do this year. If they seem stagnant again, AD will have to shoulder some of the blame. With Jrue and Cousins, they should win at least 40ish.. If they can't they need to really reconsider their roster and coaching..

That said, AD will probably be retained and they'll start over everywhere else..

Their team isn't much better.  They're still likely giving replacement-level players like Moore and Hill starter level minutes.  Rondo is wonderful in the playoffs, and for a few high-profile games in the regular season, but he's a questionable fit on that roster when he isn't in Hall-of-Fame mode.  Jordan Crawford might wind up with heavy minutes as the Pelicans continue to cycle through guards from the end of the Doc era.  About 1/5th of their payroll (and 1/5 of their roster) is darn near useless in Asik, Ajinca, and Pondexter.  If Cousins and Davis can work together, sure, that team could be better, but most of the time you're going to have replacement level talent for at least two positions on the court, and that's always difficult to overcome at the NBA level, no matter how great the top-level takent is.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

It sort of depends what you think the baseline for the Pelicans would be without him.  I personally think they would have challenged Brooklyn for the worst record last season but for Davis.  4 of their top 6 players in minutes, aside from AD and Holiday, were Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier, and Dante Cunningham.  Would any of those guys have had a greater role than Jerebko on last year's Celtics?  Number 7 in minutes was Terrence Jones, whom they just cut outright in the middle of the year, and was then cut again by Milwaukee a few weeks later, and is out of an NBA job at present.  The Pelicans did not have a lot of talent last year.  Yes, they eventually got Cousins, but he only played in 17 games.  Players should only be expected to elevate their teammates so much.

We'll have to see what they do this year. If they seem stagnant again, AD will have to shoulder some of the blame. With Jrue and Cousins, they should win at least 40ish.. If they can't they need to really reconsider their roster and coaching..

That said, AD will probably be retained and they'll start over everywhere else..

Their team isn't much better.  They're still likely giving replacement-level players like Moore and Hill starter level minutes.  Rondo is wonderful in the playoffs, and for a few high-profile games in the regular season, but he's a questionable fit on that roster when he isn't in Hall-of-Fame mode.  Jordan Crawford might wind up with heavy minutes as the Pelicans continue to cycle through guards from the end of the Doc era.  About 1/5th of their payroll (and 1/5 of their roster) is darn near useless in Asik, Ajinca, and Pondexter.  If Cousins and Davis can work together, sure, that team could be better, but most of the time you're going to have replacement level talent for at least two positions on the court, and that's always difficult to overcome at the NBA level, no matter how great the top-level talent is.

This has been one of my arguments in favor of Cousins. Critics point out that he's never been to the playoffs, but other than an inexperienced IT and a half-baked Rondo, he's had very little help.

[JHTruth]

Quite a few people criticize DeMarcus Cousins for "not making his team better," but doesn't Davis fall into that same category? It doesn't seem to me like he elevates the play of his teammates.

Not that I wouldn't want him on the Celtics, mind you. But this question just occurred to me.

It sort of depends what you think the baseline for the Pelicans would be without him.  I personally think they would have challenged Brooklyn for the worst record last season but for Davis.  4 of their top 6 players in minutes, aside from AD and Holiday, were Solomon Hill, E'Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier, and Dante Cunningham.  Would any of those guys have had a greater role than Jerebko on last year's Celtics?  Number 7 in minutes was Terrence Jones, whom they just cut outright in the middle of the year, and was then cut again by Milwaukee a few weeks later, and is out of an NBA job at present.  The Pelicans did not have a lot of talent last year.  Yes, they eventually got Cousins, but he only played in 17 games.  Players should only be expected to elevate their teammates so much.

We'll have to see what they do this year. If they seem stagnant again, AD will have to shoulder some of the blame. With Jrue and Cousins, they should win at least 40ish.. If they can't they need to really reconsider their roster and coaching..

That said, AD will probably be retained and they'll start over everywhere else..

Their team isn't much better.  They're still likely giving replacement-level players like Moore and Hill starter level minutes.  Rondo is wonderful in the playoffs, and for a few high-profile games in the regular season, but he's a questionable fit on that roster when he isn't in Hall-of-Fame mode.  Jordan Crawford might wind up with heavy minutes as the Pelicans continue to cycle through guards from the end of the Doc era.  About 1/5th of their payroll (and 1/5 of their roster) is darn near useless in Asik, Ajinca, and Pondexter.  If Cousins and Davis can work together, sure, that team could be better, but most of the time you're going to have replacement level talent for at least two positions on the court, and that's always difficult to overcome at the NBA level, no matter how great the top-level takent is.

So what will they do? Let Boogie walk? Rebuild around Jrue and AD? Trade AD and start over?