What’s up basketball fans! I am here again @dwin0603 to give you another exciting basketball discussion for another episode of NBA Talk, and today, we will talk about the hottest news in the NBA, and it’s about Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis requesting a trade. Let’s start!

It’s been a day now since the news that Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans explodes around the league and I’m sure teams are getting their offer ready now to try and acquire the superstar forward. Everyone anticipated this moment and it’s finally here. Davis finally made up his mind and requested a trade. No one expected this at a time like this because everyone thought that Davis will wait until free agency before he decides for his future.

Rich Paul spread the news and told ESPN that AD wants to join a team where he can win championships and he is not going to sign a contract extension with the Pelicans. The trade request itself didn’t shock everybody, but the timing when it was declared does shock everyone. It will be tough for the Pelicans to move on and face their future without AD but these kinds of situation come. It’s the reality. It’s business. New Orleans should move now and they shouldn’t wait until AD hits free agency because nothing can change. His decision is final and it can’t be fixed.

It’s been years of sacrifices for AD. The type of player he is should be competing at the big stage every year but the Pelicans failed to surround him the right amount of support as he ended up carrying the Pelicans almost by himself since he was drafted. AD is averaging 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks this season.

Now, let’s talk about the teams that will go after him. We all know that the Lakers is one of the teams that will go all out just to acquire him. I think they will be one of the most aggressive teams that will try to acquire AD. And they’re probably one of the teams that has the highest value of trade pieces that the Pelicans can deal with. But it will not be easy for L.A. and we all should expect that this AD sweepstakes will turn out to be the most competitive this year. Boston truly has the best trade pieces to offer to the Pelicans but the “Rose Rule” prevented them to trade for AD. I think New York will also try to acquire him aggressively but I think their chances are low. AD has established himself as a top 5 player in the league at the age of 25 and that kind of superstar will most likely get too many trade offers from all around the NBA.

What should the Lakers give up to get AD?

Let’s break this down. I personally think that Lonzo Ball will surely be included in the package. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will also be included to match the salaries. Now outside these two players, who are the others to be included? It can be Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart or Ivica Zubac. No one is safe here but the Lakers will surely try their best to hold on Kuz. I also prefer keeping Kuz because he proved that he is the Lakers second best scorer in the absence of LBJ while Ingram has consistency problems. Now, the trade package could be Zo, Ingram, KCP, plus future first round picks. Or something like Zo, Kuz, KCP plus draft picks or Zo, Kuz, KCP, Zubac plus draft picks. There are a lot of options and it may be hard to predict so let’s just wait and see how will this come up. And it’s also not sure if the Lakers will probably end up getting AD. It’s getting more excited in the NBA. Can’t wait to see the results.

That is all for today folks? Are you getting excited too? Well, let me here your opinions about this news so drop your comments now and let’s have some basketball talk! 😊

I'll leave you with some Anthony Davis highlights!