Hassanin: Where should Anthony Davis go? Making a case for the NBA’s biggest trade deadline rumor

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With the NBA trade deadline approaching quickly, everybody and everything in the NBA is buzzing.

Sure, LeBron James making the decision to take his talents to the City of Angels can be argued as a turning point in action in for the association.

Sure, there have been interesting deals throughout the season and the most recent Kristaps Porzingis deal came out of left field. An exciting NBA season to date has been a result of these deals and acquisitions.

But mark these words:

If New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis gets dealt by the NBA trade deadline on Thursday at 3 p.m., no matter where he goes, the second half of the season is going to be thrilling.

Davis and his agent have already made his displeasure with New Orleans public, which is understandable because he is arguably the third best player on the planet (behind LeBron and Durant) and they are currently 23-31 as of Feb. 5. Since he was drafted in 2012, Davis has only made it to the postseason twice, only once getting to the second round once.

The NBA sympathizes with you, Brow.

In addition to making his trade demand public, Davis’ preferred landing destinations were leaked: The Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks.

Here’s the case for each team.

Clippers:It doesn’t really click at first why Davis would want to land here at first thought, but after some thinking it makes sense. He would sign a max contract in the off-season and attract other superstars in free agency (because who wouldn’t want to play in LA with one of the best players over the past 10 years) like Kawhi Leonard or Klay Thompson. The odds of this happening by the trade deadline is almost slim to none though, considering the Clippers haven’t thrown in an offer yet.

Knicks: After the trade of Porzingis, it is apparent that the Knicks are going all-in this trade deadline and towards the off-season. Yes, Knicks GM Scott Perry got rid of the best thing to happen to the Knicks since acquiring a young, ruthless scorer in Carmelo Anthony from the Denver Nuggets in 2011. But the Knicks have a vision for this off-season and for all the assumptions they are banking on, the odds of it going well are low. In a perfect world, Davis gets traded AND they give him a max contract in the summer AND sign another superstar like Kyrie Irving or a Durant AND get the number one overall pick and draft athletic phenom Zion Williamson out of Duke AND RISE TO THE TOP OF THE EAST AND RECLAIM THE THRONE AFTER SO MANY YEARS. Not saying it’s not possible, but there are too many “ands” to be considered probable. For Davis, he is probably thinking the same thing, plus the market of playing in the Big Apple and playing in a weaker Eastern Conference.

Bucks: This possibility is exciting. Like, very exciting. Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks is an electrifying player who is basically a lankier and a slightly more athletic Anthony Davis. You could find very few teams that would be able to contain both of these guys if they were on the same team, mainly because most NBA teams are going down the path of “small ball” basketball. Having the second best big man in the game as a sidekick and mentoring him is Davis’ reasoning here.

Lakers: If the Lakers acquire Anthony Davis, it would be the blockbuster trade of all blockbuster trades. Two of the top-three players on the planet joining forces to dethrone the dynasty of the Golden State Warriors. It’s a headline for sure, but by the looks of it, the Pelicans are abusing the Lakers interest in the Brow and abusing Anthony Davis’ trade request. If trade talks fall through, expect the Lakers to go full throttle in the summer. Waiting for the summer might be a better option for the Lakers because they are still evaluating their young talent like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma, as well as evaluating how much use veterans like Rajon Rondo and Tyson Chandler will be to Magic Johnson’s squad going into next season.

The Celtics not being on his list was uncalled for, but logical, in that him and Celtics guard Kyrie Irving are two ball demanding players who wouldn’t be the most productive if put together, plus the fact that the Celtics have a stacked roster and they are still trying to solve their woes so far this season. Even if Anthony Davis wants to play with Kyrie, Irving himself will be a free agent this summer, so everything would be up in the air. Not a safe bet for Davis.

Every year, the NBA heats up around the trade deadline. But this year’s trade deadline could heat up the rest of the season as well. Davis being dealt to any of the four teams he wants to sign long-term would impact not only those teams, but the teams they are competing with in their conference. The Lakers would get that second superstar that they need to contend with the Warriors. For the Bucks, signing the Brow would lead to Milwaukee becoming a landing spot for future free agents, as well as clearing the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics, making the Bucks the real kings of the East if all were to go smoothly.

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