The Pelicans' front office dynamics are a somewhat unknown variable in where Davis may end upNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Pelicans C Anthony Davis this week requested a trade from the team, and his belief that the Pelicans are "less of a priority to ownership than the Saints has been a growing concern" despite "push back against this notion" by team officials, according to a source cited by Sam Amick of THE ATHLETIC. The Pelicans "share ownership" with the Saints, so they have a "unique front office set up" in the NBA. Saints Exec VP & GM and Pelicans President of Basketball Operations Mickey Loomis has been "pulling double duty" since '13. The "already-tricky dynamic grew even more complicated last March," when Saints and Pelicans Owner Tom Benson passed away and "full control of both franchises was passed on to his wife, Gayle" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/29). In Boston, Adam Himmelsbach notes the Pelicans' front office dynamics are a "somewhat unknown variable" in where Davis may end up. Loomis' "primary responsibility" is with the Saints, and he has "said in multiple interviews that his role on the NBA side is often overblown." The Davis situation also will be Gayle Benson's "first major personnel decision" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/30).
WHO DAT NATION: In Baton Rouge, Scott Rabalais writes the Pelicans are "the little brother" of the Saints, a "scrawny sapling struggling for daylight in the shadow of the mighty live oak." This set-up is "without parallel in professional sports, and for good reason: It's foolish." The Pelicans "need their own separate power structure" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 1/30). TNT's Baron Davis said of Anthony Davis, "He's stuck in no-man's land, in a city where it's not really a basketball city, with an organization that is not really trying to make the proper progression to make things around him better" ("Inside the NBA," TNT, 1/30). YAHOO SPORTS' Jason Owens wrote the Saints are "clearly the priority" in New Orleans. But whether Davis' reported concerns are "based in reality or perception is unclear." Benson is the "only NFL owner to own an NBA franchise in the same market," but she is "far from the only owner to have interests spread across multiple sports franchises." There have not been reports of Nuggets C Nikola Jokic being "worried about the Rams getting too much attention" from Kroenke Sports & Entertainment or Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard "wanting out of Portland because the Seahawks were the prize" of late Owner Paul Allen's eyes (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/29).
WILL PELICANS FLY? The ADVOCATE's Rabalais writes if "fan interest in the Saints is a 10, fan interest in the Pelicans is about a 4." Rabalais predicts the Pelicans will "leave New Orleans within a decade, in part because the market has always been too small to support two professional franchises, and, in part because the Pelicans frittered away six-plus years of Davis' prime talent." The Saints will "always be the dominant franchise here even if the Pels win multiple NBA titles" (Baton Rouge ADVOCATE, 1/30). THE RINGER's Ryan & Verrier write Davis' trade request "begets a lot of other, more existential questions" about the Pelicans franchise and the NBA's future in New Orleans. The return they get for Davis, and the people Benson chooses to make these decisions, will "probably define the franchise for another seven years -- and, perhaps, the rest of the league if New Orleans's continued negligence of the basketball side of their local sports empire leads to a sale of the team" (THERINGER.com, 1/30).
IS THIS GOOD FOR THE NBA? The Lakers are one team linked to having interest in trading for Davis, and FS1's Skip Bayless said it would "actually be good for the NBA" to have Davis and LeBron James on the same team. Bayless: "It would help raise the profile of a league that is on the rise. ... It would help with competitive balance in the West" ("Undisputed," FS1, 1/30). NBCSN's Dan Patrick: "If I'm the NBA and I can get Anthony Davis with LeBron, and I could get Kyrie Irving, I would love that. Now I have somebody to go against Golden State where it's now interesting." However, he noted the current situation with Davis requesting a trade "isn't good for the league" ("The Dan Patrick Show," NBCSN, 1/30). ESPN's Stephen A. Smith: "You can label it bad. I wouldn't go that extreme, but it's certainly not good" ("First Take," ESPN, 1/30).
CBA ISN'T WORKING: ESPN’s Rachel Nichols noted there is talk in NBA front offices about how the current CBA is "once again failing in some of its designs to prevent player movement.” Nichols: "Every time there's a new CBA, the owners’ side keeps trying to incentivize players to stay with teams longer, and it keeps backfiring.” Kevin Durant's move from the Thunder to the Warriors in '16 “was scary for smaller teams trying to compete with the bright lights of bigger cities." Nichols: "So in fine CBA tradition, they came up with yet another variation of the ‘Let's just make it so a star player's current team can offer him so much money -- more than anyone else -- there's no way he'll turn it down’ plan and let's do it a year before free agency. ... Instead of it actually working, it's backfired. This era of NBA players already make so much money that many of the stars in line for super max have asked to be traded before it could even be offered” ("The Jump," ESPN, 1/29).
