The Los Angeles Lakers would be in a much stronger position this offseason if the trade that landed them Anthony Davis is not completed until July 30, but that is apparently something they did not concern themselves with when they were working to pry the star big man away from the New Orleans Pelicans.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said Wednesday that the date in which the Davis trade would be executed was not a significant factor in the Lakers’ discussions with New Orleans, and it clearly should have been.
Here’s @ramonashelburne explaining more about this whole execution date fiasco. pic.twitter.com/0bE8NIaWTg
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) June 20, 2019
“This should have been central to the conversations with the Pelicans, and my understanding is that it was not,” Shelburne said. “The way it’s been described to me is the Lakers called back (after the initial deal) about this. If this was important to you, this is something you should have been arguing for in the deal construction.”
As of now, the trade is expected to be completed on July 6 when the moratorium lifts. The Lakers will have $23.6 million in cap space at that point if Davis receives his $4.1 million trade bonus and $27.7 million if he agrees to waive it. As we explained in more detail here, waiting until July 30 to complete the deal would give them $32.5 million in cap space due to the salary cap impact of the No. 4 overall pick in Thursday’s draft, which they have agreed to send to New Orleans.
So how did this happen? In all likelihood, the Lakers were desperate to complete the Davis trade by any means necessary and did not prioritize the date of execution. That probably had something to do with the Pelicans ignoring their calls and agreeing to talk with them after the fact.
With trade talks getting contentious, Pelicans president David Griffin didn’t take call from Lakers GM Rob Pelinka until fourth call today, per source. Pelicans changed mind on wanting Pelinka after getting 3 first round picks.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) June 15, 2019
Whatever the case, the Lakers would have had a much easier time clearing the space needed to sign another max free agent if they had gotten the Pelicans to agree to complete the trade on July 30. Now, New Orleans has no real incentive to cooperate. That could be the difference in whether or not the Lakers are able to land one of the superstars they are reportedly interested in.
