Anthony Davis: No Loyalty

NomarsFool

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Then you haven't been paying attention. He was a goner once the trade was demanded. Pels did it a bit quicker then I thought they would
The move makes it look like they are firing him for not accepting the Lakers offer. That seems rather stupid, to me. Totally understand if they don't feel like he is the long-term answer. Just would have expected that more to happen later in the Spring.
 

ifmanis5

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The move makes it look like they are firing him for not accepting the Lakers offer.
Apparently they were mad about something else...
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26004117/new-orleans-pelicans-part-ways-dell-demps-sources-say
Ownership was livid with an injured Davis leaving the Smoothie King Center during Thursday night's game, sources say. Gayle Benson is telling associates she wants an overhaul of the Pelicans and a search for a GM to take command of Davis trade talks and the reshaping of team's future.
 

BigSoxFan

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Klutch Sports has basically just lit an entire franchise on fire. Pelicans are an absolute mess.
 

E5 Yaz

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They should be more upset about having their team play in something called the Smoothie King Center
 

Deathofthebambino

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I refer you to my Post #633:



Unless you're calling Durant and Westbrook "Mr. Glass" as well, there's not a meaningful difference between them and Davis in terms of ability to stay on the court.
That's a little disingenuous no? Over the course of the last 6.5 seasons (which is the length of Davis' career, I'm not sure why we'd stop at 5.5), Davis has played 450 games and Durant has played 448 games. The difference is that Davis, from what I can tell, has never really suffered a serious injury. In 2014-15, Durant only played 27 games, while undergoing multiple surgeries before he was finally shut down and he seems to get days off for maintenance like most of the other stars in the league that are playing for teams that have playoff spots locked up before the season starts. This is the list of injuries suffered by AD from the article linked upthread:



That only gets you to January, 2017. He went on to miss another 5 games that year, 7 last year, and he's up to 14 this year, and none of the "injuries" that resulted in missed playing time were serious during that period as far as I can tell.

I suppose one could look at the fact that Davis hasn't suffered any serious injuries as a good sign, or alternatively, you can look at it as a guy who just chooses not to play through pain very often. There was the "knee injury" at the end of the 15/16 season in which they shut him down once they were out of the playoff chase which could be considered serious, but Anthony Davis shuts it down quite a bit. In fact, except for the 2 seasons in which the Pelicans made the playoffs, Anthony Davis has never played in the last 2 games of any season. Mostly, he skips those games, sometimes he'll skip just 2, sometimes it's 4 or 5, but besides 15/16 when it was 14 games, it doesn't appear he's shutting it down due to injury. He just doesn't seem to play once the games are meaningless. This is what he said about the end of the 15/16 season:

When the decision was made March 20 to shut down Davis for the rest of the season, the Pelicans were 25-43, with their realistic postseason hopes extinguished. New Orleans was within four games of eighth-place Houston weeks earlier, but lost a back-breaking game at the Rockets on March 2, falling five games back in the standings.

“My knee was definitely killing me, but I knew what we were playing for,” Davis said of playing through discomfort during the playoff chase. “I just wanted to play the game of basketball. When you have so much love for the game, there is not a lot that can stop you from (playing). (But) it was one of those things where it just kept lingering and getting worse as I played. So I had to make a smart decision for not just myself, but the team, and our (future) that we want to build here. I did not want this to become something drastic, when it can be fixed early. I was just trying to think about our future, not just from an individual standpoint, but also the team.”

For me personally, I don't think I would let any of this affect my decision about whether or not to trade for him, except to say that I'm even more adamant that Danny should not trade for him unless he agrees to an extension, because I wouldn't want to give up all of my assets for a guy who very well could miss the end of the one year we have him (just like Kyrie missed the playoffs last year in the 1st year we had him). That would be the worst case scenario. Danny gives up all of the assets, AD doesn't sign an extension, and then he gets "hurt" and/or doesn't want to diminish his free agency value, and we don't even have him for the stretch run in the one "go for it now" season we have him?
 

jon abbey

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Klutch Sports has basically just lit an entire franchise on fire. Pelicans are an absolute mess.
Dunno, much like LeBron in CLE the first time, they had many years to build around their franchise player and did a horrific job.
 

BigSoxFan

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Dunno, much like LeBron in CLE the first time, they had many years to build around their franchise player and did a horrific job.
They also had horrific luck with Cousins’ Achilles injury. The Pelicans certainly didn’t maximize their AD window but they got screwed by that.
 

nighthob

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Klutch Sports has basically just lit an entire franchise on fire. Pelicans are an absolute mess.
That's my biggest trepidation with a Davis trade, and why increasingly I find myself praying that the Knicks or Clippers win the Zion sweepstakes so that the Celtics don't need to deal with that tire fire of an agency that will spend the year trying to burn bridges and get The Unibrower out of town to play for the LA Klutches.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Griffin would be interesting in New Orleans. I think he is great as a commentator but its unclear how good of a GM he was/is given his almost thankless mandate in Cleveland.

More to the point, its not clear what his hiring would do to the Celtics chances of landing Davis.

On the one hand, LeBron appeared to support him on the way out of the door in Cleveland. On the other, there was chatter that LeBron was responsible for his firing.
 

Kliq

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Dunno, much like LeBron in CLE the first time, they had many years to build around their franchise player and did a horrific job.
This isn't really true. LeBron would have killed to play with Jrue Holiday during his first Cleveland stint. I don't think New Orleans had a loaded team; but Davis was surrounded by one other All-Star level player, as well as some valuable role players in Mirotic and Randle. He wasn't on a super team, but this wasn't KG on the Timberwolves playing with Trenton Hassell and Marko Jaric either.
 

sox311

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That's what she said.
It has been said that Zarren has been offered a GM job or two in the past but he has turned them down. I don't see this New Orleans job being the one to pull him away if he has turned down others before.

They have to immediately trade a generational talent where it is highly doubtful to ever get enough back in return. 25th in attendance with AD. Owners who haven't been involved. But if so, it will be nice to follow the Boston West.

Griffin left just before the Kyrie trade and is close to Kyrie if I remember right. He said he wouldn't have made the trade with Boston, but that is hindsight.
 

DJnVa

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Griffin left just before the Kyrie trade and is close to Kyrie if I remember right. He said he wouldn't have made the trade with Boston, but that is hindsight.
Well, he won't be signing Kyrie, but maybe he'll want to send his buddy AD for good price.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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If the trade is Tatum plus bodies plus picks plus Zarren, I am not as keen on that. I know its a stars league but Zarren seems like a key part of Ainge's relative success.
 

NomarsFool

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Definitely makes sense to fire your GM over a player leaving the arena early.
Pretty lousy situation down there that seems to just be getting worse. Hard to know exactly what is going through AD's mind right now and what kind of advice he is getting from his agent. Does he want the Pelicans to just sit him for the rest of the season? I had thought he didn't want that. Leaving his teammates certainly looks like a (radio edit) move. Why do that all of a sudden when you have (up until the trade request) been a pretty classy guy about the whole situation? Now it seems like AD doesn't want to play anymore, and the Pelicans don't want him to play anymore, and it's only the NBA that is standing in the way of what, overall, is a pretty lousy situation to keep a healthy player out of the game to preserve his trade value and help your team improve its stance in the draft.
 

bakahump

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I assume that Zarren would be Awesome? As far as assisting the Celtics in acquiring Brow.
 

BigSoxFan

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Pretty lousy situation down there that seems to just be getting worse. Hard to know exactly what is going through AD's mind right now and what kind of advice he is getting from his agent. Does he want the Pelicans to just sit him for the rest of the season? I had thought he didn't want that. Leaving his teammates certainly looks like a (radio edit) move. Why do that all of a sudden when you have (up until the trade request) been a pretty classy guy about the whole situation? Now it seems like AD doesn't want to play anymore, and the Pelicans don't want him to play anymore, and it's only the NBA that is standing in the way of what, overall, is a pretty lousy situation to keep a healthy player out of the game to preserve his trade value and help your team improve its stance in the draft.
Kind of surreal to see guys like Durant, LeBron, and AD tank their public image. LeBron went from incredibly likable taking down the big bad Pistons by himself to being a villain for basically the entire league. Durant went from the quiet unassuming star who most people rooted for in OKC to being the sellout who went to the Warriors. AD seems intent on joining this group. Ultimately, they aren't losing anything other than other fans' goodwill but interesting to see nonetheless.
 

lovegtm

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Kind of surreal to see guys like Durant, LeBron, and AD tank their public image. LeBron went from incredibly likable taking down the big bad Pistons by himself to being a villain for basically the entire league. Durant went from the quiet unassuming star who most people rooted for in OKC to being the sellout who went to the Warriors. AD seems intent on joining this group. Ultimately, they aren't losing anything other than other fans' goodwill but interesting to see nonetheless.
It turns out that 20-something famous dudes under intense pressure to not blow the best years of their lives don't always nail their optics.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Pretty lousy situation down there that seems to just be getting worse. Hard to know exactly what is going through AD's mind right now and what kind of advice he is getting from his agent. Does he want the Pelicans to just sit him for the rest of the season? I had thought he didn't want that. Leaving his teammates certainly looks like a (radio edit) move. Why do that all of a sudden when you have (up until the trade request) been a pretty classy guy about the whole situation? Now it seems like AD doesn't want to play anymore, and the Pelicans don't want him to play anymore, and it's only the NBA that is standing in the way of what, overall, is a pretty lousy situation to keep a healthy player out of the game to preserve his trade value and help your team improve its stance in the draft.
Originally, Davis didn't want to play before the trade deadline. After the trade deadline passed, he wanted to play, but the Pelicans didn't want him to play, so then the league stepped in and threatened a $100k/day fine if the Pelicans benched him. However, I don't think AD was prepared for the reaction from the fans. Once the deadline passed, and he returned to playing games, they started booing him every time he touched the ball. On Tuesday, he played 24 minutes, to a chorus a boos, went 1/9 from the floor, scored 3 points and they lost by 30 to Orlando. Then he comes out last night and gets "hurt" after 15 minutes. I don't think he wants anything to do with playing for them at this point, and I don't think the fans want him either. I'll be shocked if the league continues to force this charade on them going forward, but who knows. The problem is this guy is under contract not only this year, but next year. If he ends up taking the rest of the year off, what does that do to future stars heading towards free agency playing for crappy teams? It's the precedent that this is going to set that really sucks.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Originally, Davis didn't want to play before the trade deadline. After the trade deadline passed, he wanted to play, but the Pelicans didn't want him to play, so then the league stepped in and threatened a $100k/day fine if the Pelicans benched him. However, I don't think AD was prepared for the reaction from the fans. Once the deadline passed, and he returned to playing games, they started booing him every time he touched the ball. On Tuesday, he played 24 minutes, to a chorus a boos, went 1/9 from the floor, scored 3 points and they lost by 30 to Orlando. Then he comes out last night and gets "hurt" after 15 minutes. I don't think he wants anything to do with playing for them at this point, and I don't think the fans want him either. I'll be shocked if the league continues to force this charade on them going forward, but who knows. The problem is this guy is under contract not only this year, but next year. If he ends up taking the rest of the year off, what does that do to future stars heading towards free agency playing for crappy teams? It's the precedent that this is going to set that really sucks.
That's why the charade will continue.
 

cheech13

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Dunno, much like LeBron in CLE the first time, they had many years to build around their franchise player and did a horrific job.
Horrific seems like an overstatement. Value-wise they did well in the trades for Jrue, Boogie and Mirotic. There was no way to see the Boogie injury coming; can't blame them there for a stroke of bad luck.

They've done ok on the margins in free agency. Julius Randle was a steal. Rondo contributed a lot at a bargain price. E'Twaun Moore has been fine, if slightly overpaid relative to the role he fills. Solomon Hill wasn't a great deal, but that was a summer of '16 signing and every marginal talent that year got overpaid by 50 to 100 percent. Bad timing.

The Asik trade and extension was the clear miss, compounded by the fact that they traded a superior center in Robin Lopez the season before. But the pick they traded became Sam Dekker, and he's been a complete non-entity. There were some other good players still on the board that year but who knows if they would have drafted one.

None of this is that bad in a vacuum. It's just the cumulative effect of constantly trading picks and running up the payroll to find short-term help. More than anything they fell into the same trap that Cleveland did during Lebron's first run: They were gifted a generational talent in a market that doesn't attract fee agents, with no complementary stars in place and no real means to acquire talent outside of moving picks or eating bad deals. Maybe they should have been more patient in the early years to build that foundation, but there's guarantee that would have kept AD happy either.
 

lovegtm

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Horrific seems like an overstatement. Value-wise they did well in the trades for Jrue, Boogie and Mirotic. There was no way to see the Boogie injury coming; can't blame them there for a stroke of bad luck.

They've done ok on the margins in free agency. Julius Randle was a steal. Rondo contributed a lot at a bargain price. E'Twaun Moore has been fine, if slightly overpaid relative to the role he fills. Solomon Hill wasn't a great deal, but that was a summer of '16 signing and every marginal talent that year got overpaid by 50 to 100 percent. Bad timing.

The Asik trade and extension was the clear miss, compounded by the fact that they traded a superior center in Robin Lopez the season before. But the pick they traded became Sam Dekker, and he's been a complete non-entity. There were some other good players still on the board that year but who knows if they would have drafted one.

None of this is that bad in a vacuum. It's just the cumulative effect of constantly trading picks and running up the payroll to find short-term help. More than anything they fell into the same trap that Cleveland did during Lebron's first run: They were gifted a generational talent in a market that doesn't attract fee agents, with no complementary stars in place and no real means to acquire talent outside of moving picks or eating bad deals. Maybe they should have been more patient in the early years to build that foundation, but there's guarantee that would have kept AD happy either.
The thing is, the NBA's contract structures are such that you don't have to give a shit about whether AD is happy in his first contract, and even the start of his 2nd. That's why the Pelicans' overall approach was a mistake.
 

Jimbodandy

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Pelicans' record over the last X years speaks for itself. Davis has been there for quite a while now, and they have one somewhat productive playoff run. You can't pin years of shit on one injury to a rental player. "Horrific" might be too much, but calling the performance of the F.O. "poor" is pretty accurate.
 

nighthob

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Horrific seems like an overstatement. Value-wise they did well in the trades for Jrue, Boogie and Mirotic. There was no way to see the Boogie injury coming; can't blame them there for a stroke of bad luck.
The Jrue Holiday trade was pretty awful. They acquired an injured player for a pair of lottery picks that had the potential to make them a contender. While Philly squandered the first pick (passing over the Greek Freak, CJ McCollum, and Steven Adams amongst others), there’s no guarantee that Demps, looking for short term help, would have wasted a pick on a big man a year from getting on the court.

Calling the Demps regime awful is fairly acurate. Because he has made some downright awful decisions.
 

Deathofthebambino

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Lakers/Klutch plant is putting this out now.

She's just regurgitating what Woj already tweeted earlier (it's posted in this thread) about AD leaving, and it was clear from the Gentry post-game that he didn't know if AD had left the building (and didn't really seem to care one way or the other either, as he kept steering the conversation back to the guys who actually played).
 

Bad Penny

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Brad wants Kyrie to play if he's cleared.
CBS was caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. What is he going to say to his famously mercurial, mind changes with the weather, UFA to be superstar*?

* top 20ish player
 

Bad Penny

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That's my biggest trepidation with a Davis trade, and why increasingly I find myself praying that the Knicks or Clippers win the Zion sweepstakes so that the Celtics don't need to deal with that tire fire of an agency that will spend the year trying to burn bridges and get The Unibrower out of town to play for the LA Klutches.
Consider this appropriated.
 

lovegtm

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CBS was caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. What is he going to say to his famously mercurial, mind changes with the weather, UFA to be superstar*?

* top 20ish player
Piping hot! I see you only have 23 posts so far, but I'm excited to see more of your takes!