NBA Trade 2018-19 Review: Los Angeles Lakers - Muscala & Bullock Added, Anthony Davis Saga & more

#2 The Anthony Davis deadlock which resulted in utter despair

No possible Lakers offer could trigger an AD trade

The quest to bag Anthony Davis started with the following offer:

in the Lakers first offer to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis, LA offered Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and a first-round pick, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 2, 2019

Apparently, the Pelicans administration found it underwhelming and asked for more, to which the needy party decided to go all out.

The Lakers have offered a new package to New Orleans that includes multiple young players, multiple draft picks and Pelicans salary cap relief for Anthony Davis, league sources tell ESPN. The offer appears to move closer to the objectives that the Pelicans are pursuing in a deal.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 4, 2019

It became pretty clear after a while that referring to the Pelicans' GM Dell Demps' demands in return for AD as outrageous would be an absolute understatement. Eventually, the deal did not go through and the Lakers front-office led by Magic Johnson had to bear the public shame of putting nearly all of his players on the trade block for nothing. Once the smoke settled, all it did was leave a bad taste in the mouths of LA's young core.

According to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix,

"Handled quietly, and the Pelicans might have been more open to dealing with the Lakers, sources familiar with the situation told The Crossover,"

"But Davis’s attempt to bully his way to LA, coupled with internal questions about whether the Lakers, who are headlined by LeBron James, who is represented by Rich Paul, who also represents Davis, had a hand in all this only served to cement the Pelicans resistance to dealing with Los Angeles—for now, anyway."