The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery is over, and the New Orleans Pelicans came away winners. What does that mean for the LA Clippers’ pursuit of Anthony Davis?
In a surprising turn of events, the New Orleans Pelicans — a team that only had a six percent chance of landing the top overall pick — did exactly that. And while some suspected that likely top pick Zion Williamson could be enough to keep Anthony Davis from leaving The Big Easy, it looks as though the opposite is true.
Not long after the results were announced, The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported that Davis has not changed his stance — meaning he still intends to be traded this summer. And although the LA Clippers didn’t have a place in the Draft Lottery, the results absolutely extend to them.
Assuming the Clippers create a package to try and pry Davis away from New Orleans this summer, some of their top competitors figure to be the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers. All of those teams (except for the Celtics) had a shot at the top pick tonight, and none of them got it — meaning that what was arguably their top asset is no longer theirs. Funnily enough, it now belongs to the team they all wanted to give it to.
Therefore, if we’re looking at the really real bright side of things, the results actually helped the Clippers if they do intend (and they should intend) to make a run for Davis.
There’s still some other things to work out here, though. While the Lakers didn’t get themselves the top prize, they still walked away with one heck of a consolation: the fourth overall pick. They could still package that selection, which is much better than the 11th overall selection they were slated to have, with a few of their younger players (and probably a few more picks). That would still be a very good deal, especially since it would result with the Pelicans possessing two of the top four picks in one of the more top-heavy draft classes in recent memory.
The Knicks got a leg up on the Lakers in terms of draft position at No. 3, but lack the assets that the Lakers possess. Sure, New York has Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson, but those two don’t exactly stack up to Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart. More importantly, that’s still a package that the Clippers could beat.
It doesn’t get talked about a lot outside of Clippers circles, but LA does have the assets necessary to make a trade for a superstar of Davis’ caliber. Any deal would likely have to include Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Landry Shamet, one of Montrezl Harrell or Lou Williams and a few first-round picks, including Miami’s unprotected 2021 first that the Clippers got in the Tobias Harris trade.
That’s a lot, yes, but that’s probably what the Clippers would have to give up in order to make a competitive offer. And to make salaries work, the Pelicans would likely have to deal another player of theirs (probably Solomon Hill).
There’s also the free agency side of things here, which is a whole other beast.
Again, the top overall pick would have been an enormous asset for teams like the Lakers, Sixers and Knicks, who are all expected to have deep pockets this summer and could sign some of the top available free agents in the league, including Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Now that the Zion pick isn’t in their possession, that’s one part of any potential pitch that teams will have to scratch.
And again, this helps out the Clippers. If one of those teams ended up netting that selection, that was one thing that LA couldn’t compete with — and the draw of playing with someone who’s been hyped up as “the next you-name-him” for the last couple years could be enough to persuade any of those guys mentioned above to sign with one team over the other.
We can’t say for sure if the LA Clippers will pursue Davis, but since a potential top asset is off the table for other competitive teams, it’d be foolish to not at least give the Pelicans a call and see if they’d like to strike a deal.