Wow, Wilbon hit the nail on the head there. He said that he knows Davis, and this does not seem like Davis. He said that Davis does not look comfortable with how all of this is going down, and he feels like he might be getting pressured into all of this LA controversy by Paul and others.
This has been my perspective the entire time. I think AD legitimately would like to go to LA now, as he then doesn't waste a half season of his prime still on the Pelicans. However, all of this about him only going to LA and not going to Boston is just nonsense meant to pressure NOLA. If he truly wants to win, there's no argument that Boston is best situated to give him that wish, ESPECIALLY if he doesn't get traded at the deadline, which would mean he would be joining a 36 year old James in LA. Yeah, seems like a good idea for "winning."
except 36 year old James (well 34 to 35 next year) is still a far better player than anyone currently on Boston and thus would in fact give Davis the best shot a title next season or the season after (if you are only looking at LA and Boston). Now sure, Boston has a much longer window, but longer doesn't necessarily mean better.
Lol, what? The Lakers aren’t even a playoff team as it stands. LeBron being better than any of our guys is meaningless because their team sucks. AD on that team does not have anything close to the title likelihood that AD on our team would
Sure because they went 6-11 without James on the floor. They are 21-14 with James on the floor. That would be 31-21 or the 5th seed (and a game behind Portland for 4th) if they won at the same 60% pace in those 17 missed games.
Let's just say they trade all 5 of their young players (and filler), they would still have a starting 5 of Rondo, KCP, James, Davis, McGee with some solid vets on the bench. Of course I don't think they are trading all 5 of the young players, because New Orleans isn't absorbing that many players. That is just for the rest of this season (which gives Davis a real shot this year, something he doesn't have now and can't have in Boston). Next summer, the Lakers would be set up to cap space for a very large contract to end up in town with Davis and James. To acquire Davis, Boston would have to give Smart and Tatum at a minimum, that would still leave a nice team of Irving, Brown, Hayward, Davis, and Horford with some solid vets on the bench, but that team has no one near as good as James and who knows who that 3rd person (if anyone) is the Lakers sign. What if Leonard decides he wants to play with Davis and James or Klay, or Durant (or heaven forbid Irving). Now sure that is a riskier proposition for Davis, but hitching your wagons to James hasn't exactly been a bad thing.
At some point James is going to show his mileage, but he is still the best player in the world and that will always give his team a shot, especially when you add a talent like Davis to him (they would actually complement each other well).