How Much Do The Celtics Want Davis

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21806622/anthony-davis-nba-great-big-trade-obsession-adrian-wojnarowski

Hi,
The rumors for AD are alive and kicking.
I'd trade AH+whoever (except JT, JB) + '18/'19 pick for AD.
I think his acquisition will propel Celtics to the GSW level for 2019 title contention.

AK

Does not seem to be a fan of DA and the Celtics

mrkleen09 wrote:Does not seem to be a fan of DA and the Celtics

I noticed the same thing. However, he seemed to be saying it in the context of "I hope I haven't been wasting my time being loyal to New Orleans when teams are never loyal to players", which is a little different than singling out the Celtics as a disloyal team. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem great for the Celtics...

According to reports Danny made the call to NO last year to inquire about Davis so now the assumption is that the Celtics are still interested.

The article indicates that Davis likes where he is at so in other words he does not want to leave.  That will not stop the speculation that the Celtics will try to make a move to acquire him.

A lot of things have happened since Danny called NO.  The Celtics struck gold by drafting Tatum and will get an additional reward with another 1st round pick.  Danny was able to convince Hayward that Boston is a good place to be and then Danny did the unthinkable by trading IT to Cleveland to get Kyrie.  The Celtics now have a foundation of talented veterans in Horford, Irving and Hayward and two really good developing players in Brown and Tatum.  They also have a lot of future 1st round picks to add to this team.

The Celtics are a top team even without Hayward.

So why would they make a move for Davis?  Who would they have to part with?  

One things seems pretty certain. The Celtics would have to include Horford because they are not prone to have 4 max contract players on the team.   I would make a deal, Davis for Horford along with 3 first round picks and the Celtics take back a contract to even the money out.

Plug in Davis, Irving, Hayward, Tatum and Brown and you have a team that could compete with any team over an extended period of time.

This will never happen of course.

dboss

Shamrock1000 wrote:

mrkleen09 wrote:Does not seem to be a fan of DA and the Celtics

I noticed the same thing. However, he seemed to be saying it in the context of "I hope I haven't been wasting my time being loyal to New Orleans when teams are never loyal to players", which is a little different than singling out the Celtics as a disloyal team. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem great for the Celtics...

Sooner or later Davis will grow up and realize that basketball is a business. NOLA can only go so far. They need a lot to become a great team and Davis is likely to become increasingly impatient. But you make a good point that his reference to the Celtics is more related to loyalty and not necessarily a dislike for the Celtics and the winning that it would bring.

NOLA could lose Cousins to free agency after this year and if that happens they may decide to blow up what little they have. Davis is a franchise players and although he is in year 6 with the Pelicans they have not made any significant strides towards building a contender. Cousins plus Davis does not equal a contender.

dboss

dboss wrote:According to reports Danny made the call to NO last year to inquire about Davis so now the assumption is that the Celtics are still interested.

The article indicates that Davis likes where he is at so in other words he does not want to leave.  That will not stop the speculation that the Celtics will try to make a move to acquire him.

A lot of things have happened since Danny called NO.  The Celtics struck gold by drafting Tatum and will get an additional reward with another 1st round pick.  Danny was able to convince Hayward that Boston is a good place to be and then Danny did the unthinkable by trading IT to Cleveland to get Kyrie.  The Celtics now have a foundation of talented veterans in Horford, Irving and Hayward and two really good developing players in Brown and Tatum.  They also have a lot of future 1st round picks to add to this team.

The Celtics are a top team even without Hayward.

So why would they make a move for Davis?  Who would they have to part with?  

One things seems pretty certain. The Celtics would have to include Horford because they are not prone to have 4 max contract players on the team.   I would make a deal, Davis for Horford along with 3 first round picks and the Celtics take back a contract to even the money out.

Plug in Davis, Irving, Hayward, Tatum and Brown and you have a team that could compete with any team over an extended period of time.

This will never happen of course.

dboss

Danny would give up Horford in a heart beat to get Davis. This is not a knock on Horford, who should be a regular all-star, it's just that Davis is on another level. The Pelicans don't seem to have any intention of trading Davis, but if they did, assuming Horford goes, they would also want Tatum, the LA/sacto pick, and at least one other promising 1st round pick. Given the early returns on Tatum, not sure Danny pulls the trigger on that one (though he will think long and hard about it). Suppose he substitutes Brown for Tatum - would you do that trade?

dboss wrote:

Shamrock1000 wrote:

mrkleen09 wrote:Does not seem to be a fan of DA and the Celtics

I noticed the same thing. However, he seemed to be saying it in the context of "I hope I haven't been wasting my time being loyal to New Orleans when teams are never loyal to players", which is a little different than singling out the Celtics as a disloyal team. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem great for the Celtics...

Sooner or later Davis will grow up and realize that basketball is a business.  NOLA can only go so far.  They need a lot to become a great team and Davis is likely to become increasingly impatient.   But you make a good point that his reference to the Celtics is more related to loyalty and not necessarily a dislike for the Celtics and the winning that it would bring.

NOLA could lose Cousins to free agency after this year and if that happens they may decide to blow up what little they have.  Davis is a franchise players and although he is in year 6 with the Pelicans they have not made any significant strides towards building a contender.  Cousins plus Davis does not equal a contender.

dboss

Yup - it's a business on BOTH sides. Very few players take a home town discount, and if they do, its usually still somehow on their own best interest (family situation, legacy, etc, etc). I don't blame them either - they are not fans who grew up rooting for the team they play for. Similarly, front offices do not often display loyalty to players either, and if they do, there is a usually a reason beyond loyalty to the player. Like Seinfeld said,we are basically rooting for laundry.

No way the Celtics trade Tatum. I think he is going to be a 20+ per game scorer and solid rebounder and I also think that he has the one on one skills to give us another go to guy.

I also do not see NOLA trading Davis unless he wanted out but they have not done a good job surrounding him with enough talent to win.

Danny has made great headway in moving this team closer to contention. I think his core is exactly what is needed. The Davis speculation must be considered as something that happened yesterday and before Danny went hogwild (adding two allstars and hitting a grand slam with the Tatum pick)

dboss

Davis is injury prone and, by the numbers, has slightly lower stats than Cousins.

I think Davis has expressed a desire to stay on more than one occasion. This is good for NO because it means they should be able to convince other talented players to sign there. If NO trades Davis, they'll find themselves stuck where they've been for so long: mediocrity.

If they're smart, they'll keep Cousins and go for that third major piece.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Davis is injury prone and, by the numbers, has slightly lower stats than Cousins.

I think Davis has expressed a desire to stay on more than one occasion. This is good for NO because it means they should be able to convince other talented players to sign there. If NO trades Davis, they'll find themselves stuck where they've been for so long: mediocrity.

If they're smart, they'll keep Cousins and go for that third major piece.


KJ

KJ

Good points.  They probably overpaid Holiday so getting that 3rd elite player will be difficult.

Dboss

Davis is an exceptional player, but I doubt that the Pelicans are looking to trade him, and I would doubt that they would want to start over with any of the three draft picks already mentioned and Horford.

Much easier and faster to find a much more proven NBA player to go along with Davis, Cousins and Holliday.

Davis is  a grown man and is entitled to his own perspective. I see no evidence that he needs to " grow up."