Pelicans’ Davis still in spotlight
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Anthony Davis isn’t completely sure if he’s going to play in tonight’s NBA All-Star Game.
He also doesn’t know how much the New Orleans Pelicans will have him play the rest of this season. Or where he’ll play next season. Or where he’ll play the season after that, either.
So Davis, obviously, has a lot of questions.
On Saturday, he also had some answers.
Yes, Davis wants to keep playing through the end of the season with New Orleans. No, he didn’t eliminate Boston from the list of cities where he would consider playing. Yes, he will test free agency in the summer of 2020. And above all else, big market or small market, he insists having a chance to win is all that matters going forward.
“It’s time to go play ball,” Davis said Saturday during media availability for All-Star weekend. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Davis — provided a shoulder strain doesn’t keep him out — will finally be LeBron James’ teammate tonight, when Team LeBron takes on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Team Giannis in the NBA AllStar Game. The league’s annual showcase exhibition always comes with subplots, and this year, the one in which Davis recently asked for a trade that ultimately didn’t happen seemed to generate more buzz than anything else.
“I’m just keeping it real, to be honest,” Davis said while talking with reporters. “I knew that’s all you guys wanted to talk about. I just stated how I feel, I stated my intentions, and I go on from there.”
Davis confirmed there was a list of teams he preferred to be traded to — James’ Los Angeles Lakers, along with the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks. He also said the Celtics were on his list, news sure to delight fans in Boston and not those who support other Eastern Conference teams.
The Lakers unsuccessfully tried to acquire Davis, and the Pelicans aren’t exactly sure what happens now. They fired general manager Dell Demps on Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with Danny Ferry, a move that Davis said caught him by surprise but also doesn’t alter his thinking that a change of scenery is needed.
It has been argued the Pelicans might be best served not playing Davis, though the NBA — which has already fined the 2017 All-Star MVP for saying he wanted a trade — would surely come down hard if they sat him for no reason.
“It’s about the best situation for me, the best fit for me,” Davis said. “When the time comes, obviously, I have to re-evaluate my situation and see what market best fits me and go from there.”
Hawks’ Young 2nd
Boston’s Jayson Tatum hit a 3-pointer from just beyond midcourt Saturday night to beat Atlanta Hawks rookie Trae Young in the final round of the skills competition on All-Star weekend.
Tatum defeated the Memphis Grizzlies’ Mike Conley in the first round, then topped the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic in the semifinals. Young beat the Sacramento Kings’ De’Aaron Fox in the first round, then topped the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic in the semifinals.
In the last showdown, Tatum was slightly behind Young going into the 3-pointer, the final shot of the event, and decided he needed to try the long shot to get one in before Young could shoot for the title.
In the other firstround matchups, Jokic defeated the Orlando Magic’s Nikola Vucevic and Doncic topped the Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma.