Winners and Losers of the Anthony Davis to Los Angeles Lakers trade

After months of speculation, people losing their jobs, team chemistry going down the drain, it has finally happened and the biggest trade saga in recent history has finally come to an end. Anthony Davis has been traded by the New Orleans Pelicans to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The New Orleans Pelicans received Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and 3 first round draft picks, including the 2019 #4 draft pick for Anthony Davis, essentially rebuilding their team on the fly.

They now have 3 first round draft picks who have already gone through the rigours of the NBA and will be ready to contribute alongside the new face of the Pelicans when they draft Zion Williamson at #1 in the 2019 Draft.

With the saga finally coming to an end, here are the 5 winners and losers from this blockbuster trade:

Winner: The New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans received a huge haul for Anthony Davis

The New Orleans Pelicans definitely came out as winners in this deal as they get to rebuild on the fly with some great young stars at their disposal and even managed to get 3 first year draft picks from the deal for Anthony Davis.

They now have an impossibly high ceiling for their roster, including a defensively superb backcourt pairing of Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday, with potential highlight reel dunk lobs from Lonzo and Jrue to their future addition of Zion Williamson, who is already a foregone #1 pick.

Brandon Ingram, with his blood clot injury aside, is one of the most exciting young players the Lakers have sent over to the Pelicans and Josh Hart was slowly developing into a defensive shooting guard that can become a key part of their rotation in the future.

Not to mention that the Pelicans are looking to trade the #4 pick for even more returns to make this deal even sweeter for the Pelicans. They have definitely come out on the top and have a team that will be ready for the playoffs as early as next season.

Loser: Boston Celtics

It seems to have just gone from bad to worse for the Boston Celtics. After trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in an era-shifting trade, the Boston Celtics had become the go-to spot for any big player looking to move, just turns out that the player was Anthony Davis.

With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward joining, they were going to become one of the best teams in the league and challenge for the title. But instead, two underwhelming seasons along with a major injury to Hayward and it just has not worked out for the Celtics.

With reports emerging that Irving is almost out of the door and on his way to the Brooklyn Nets, landing Anthony Davis was of paramount importance to the Celtics. But Davis was not keen on staying past a year and the Celtics were not willing to put everything on the line for him.

Now, Davis is a Laker, a part of their biggest rivals. Even though Boston has one of the best coaches in the NBA and some of the best young talents around the league, they have failed to land any major all-NBA generational talent in free agency and they have also not been able to keep those that do end up coming.

The Boston Celtics, who have a huge war chest of young stars and draft picks, have not been able to use it on the one player they were waiting for all along.

Winner: LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers have finally gotten their target

The Los Angeles Lakers have finally made the power move that many were waiting for them to make. They have finally landed the All-Star teammate LeBron James desired next to him in Anthony Davis.

With no other potential big name free agents particularly interested in signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James was marooned on an island with the Lakers. In trading for Davis, the Lakers have become instant championship contenders.

They had to give up a lot for a player in his last year and willing to sign with the Lakers at the end of his contract, but they had to make a move in this season, they could not waste another season of LeBron in his prime.

James, potentially, will now play alongside the best teammate he has ever had. It opens the door to another few runs at the NBA finals. There is a lot to still figure out for the roster and that is something Rob Pelinka has to do soon. But for now, Lakers are primed to return to the top of the NBA again.

Loser: The other Western Conference teams

These 2 will now be playing together instead of against each other

The rest of the Western Conference will now be forced to sit up and take notice of a failing Los Angeles Lakers roster which is now suddenly buoyed by the signing of a top 5 generational talent in Anthony Davis.

Sure, the Lakers are weaker since they have no squad depth, but the potentially devastating combo of LeBron and Davis will wreak havoc upon this conference. We all saw what went down in the NBA Finals, season-ending injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant (should they re-sign), making the Warriors a team that can be beaten with only Steph on the court.

The Lakers now have 2 of the top 5 players in the league and all the talk about the Western Conference being wide open due to the Warriors' injury situation has allowed Lakers to walk through and become the favourites.

Teams like Denver Nuggets, who have built their roster from the ground up and Houston Rockets or the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were almost there but just needed this situation with the Warriors to take the next step, have all been pushed back because of the Lakers.

Any veteran who now wants to win a ring will want to go to the Lakers. So what if the roster is not built yet, anybody would love to play with Davis and James, all the way to the NBA title in the 2019-20 season.

Winner: Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis was always the player who is a once in a generation type of talent but did not have another star around him for the longest time (DeMarcus Cousins but that was a cruel end to an exciting partnership) to make a run for the playoffs, maybe even the finals.

But now, Davis, after publicly announcing that he will not sign a new deal with the Pelicans and is looking to be traded, has finally gotten what he wanted. He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers to be paired up with the best player in the NBA, LeBron James, which seems a huge step up from Jrue Holiday, irrespective of how good he is.

LeBron is going to be the best player he has ever played with and at 26 and in his prime, Davis will be looking to finally cement himself as one of the best players to play the game and win a few championships with LeBron.

James is one of the league's best passers and draws a double team on every single drive he makes, which will open up the floor for Davis to grow into his role as one of the best. He will now have to step up and be the player LeBron and the Lakers need him to be after months of this trade saga that has now finally come to an end.