We Finally Have An Inside Look At How Rich Paul Got Anthony Davis To The Lakers
Today Dave McMenanim dropped a massive piece on how the entire AD trade went down and if you have some time to kill and you’re interested in that sort of thing I highly recommend it. It’s a situation where on the surface we all know what happened, AD aka Rich Paul demanded a trade in February in an effot to get AD to the Lakers to join LeBron for the stretch run. That ultimately blew up in everyone’s face and forced the Pelicans to sit Davis out the rest of the season effectively ruining their season and causing a giant shit storm. Then in the following months there was a ton of misinformation from all sides as Rich Paul and Klutch did their best to knock off potential suitors in an effort to get Davis to LA. In the end it worked. The Lakers traded their entire future for the chance to pair AD and LeBron and hope that Davis resigns after this season (my money is on he obviously does). However reading through the piece there were certain parts that stuck out to me which I want to dive into a little deeper.
The rub was two-fold: One obstacle, sources told ESPN, was Pelicans owner Gayle Benson’s sour feelings toward L.A. — a lingering disdain over how Davis’ final season with the franchise had been compromised by AD’s initial request.
“Clearly the process began at the trade deadline,” Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka says, “But I think it’s no mystery that there wasn’t engagement in them wanting to do a trade at that time. I think that’s just sort of fact.”
This was the beauty of Paul’s plan in my opinion. Everyone knew the Pelicans didn’t HAVE to trade AD at the deadline. In fact it was bad business to make a move before the summer where there would be more potential suitors. So why make the demand public at a time when a trade most likely won’t happen? It’s simple. So that Davis would be sat and an injury prone player wouldn’t get hurt before the summer when Paul was going to get him on the Lakers. Look at what happened to Boogie, all it takes is a split second. This was probably the best way to ensure Davis would be healthy come the summer, and honestly it’s a great move by Klutch even if Davis took a bit of a PR hit, people would forget it eventually.
Acting on behalf of his client, Rich Paul had all but made the decision for the Pelicans. He signaled to any other interested trade partners — i.e. the Boston Celtics, who sources say coveted the big man for years — that Davis would walk as a free agent in the summer of 2020 if they dealt for him.
“The last thing you want to do is put a GM in a situation where he trades away an asset and then the guy walks out the door,” Paul says. “Like, you can’t do business that way. So, it’s not really a hard conversation to have.
“And I don’t think it stopped Danny Ainge from trying. It’s just that maybe he didn’t have the deal [he wanted]. He wasn’t willing to give up the young players, which I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t give them up either, if the guy is not going to re-sign back.”
This is obviously relevant to me based on who I root for and it pretty much confirms that Ainge made the right choice. The price most likely would have been Jaylen AND Tatum in order to pull it off, and you swap them out with AD and the Celtics are no closer to a title than they are now. Then you factor in the 100% reality that Davis is leaving Boston after this season, and this wasn’t just a case of Ainge being too scared to trade his assets. This was him not panicking and making a move just to make one. There was always the chance Ainge called Paul’s bluff on this, but I’m glad he didn’t, even if Davis is a top 5 player when healthy.
“Rich had done such an effective job of smoking out all of the competition for the Lakers, that we were left with the sense that the best deal is going to very likely come from them. And if we can get X-Y-Z, we have to execute the deal,” Griffin recalls.
This is why you can hate him if you want, but Rich Paul and Klutch Sports played this entire thing perfectly. He eliminated the only real competition for the Lakers which was Boston by making it very clear that AD wasn’t going to resign, and outside of the Lakers offers there really weren’t any packages out there that were better. At this point the Pelicans had to move Davis, and Paul effectively forced their hand to bring his #1 client his #1 wish. It’s said frequently how Rich Paul basically runs the NBA, and this was a prime example. You can hate it because it helped the Lakers, but this was flawless execution.
“[Davis] wanted to go to two places: New York or L.A,” Paul reflects. “After the Draft [Lottery], I was able to see where everything lies. The fact that [the Pelicans] were going to get the first pick caused me to understand, it softened the blow of losing Anthony Davis because the organization could still have some momentum.
Poor Knicks fans. Not only did you get boned in the lottery and it cost you Zion, but it pretty much cost you AD as well. That’s rough.
“Like, if you put Anthony Davis on that Bucks team last year, they’d be playing in the Finals. He knows how to make guys better. That’s not a knock to Giannis, but that’s just what [I think].”
Hard disagree. We have seen nothing in Davis’ career that suggests he could carry that Bucks team deep in the playoffs. As good as Davis is, Giannis was just as unstoppable during his MVP season. The Raptors had the plan defensively that would have stopped AD as well. The Bucks didn’t make the Finals not because they has Giannis instead of AD, but because the other guys struggled. That still exists with AD.
In the end, this was one of those trades where everyone walked away “winners”. The Lakers got their man after months of sabotage and playing the game perfectly, the Pelicans did a fantastic job of rebuiling and reloading as they enter a rebuild which at the time was the biggest haul ever for a star (then OKC happened), the Hawks were able to make moves to snag two young pieces to add to their rebuild process, I can’t remember a time when a trade this big went down and so many teams ended up in a good position. David Griffin was given a shit sandwhich and made the best of it once the NBA helped him out with the lottery, and we just saw last night how exciting they could potentially be.
After all the fireworks we got this summer from multiple teams, I’m starting to think this is only the beginning. We have guys who are multiple years left on their contracts demanding trades and ended up where they wanted, so if anything the precedent is now set. Who knows if the Lakers win a title or if any of the young Pelicans take a leap, but one thing we do know is that every summer from now on is going to be absolutely crazy.