New Orleans Pelicans Superstar Anthony Davis Demands Trade To ‘NBA Championship Contender’

One of the most tiresome demands of spoiled athletes is one of the most familiar. It’s the ‘trade me to a contender’ routine. The general idea of professional sports is that players are supposed to make their teams better. Michael Jordan came to the Chicago Bulls and they built a team around him. Ditto Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers. This is how it works with championship level players. They take the responsibility on themselves to make the team they’re on a contender. Sub-championship level players don’t accept that it’s ‘on them’ to help make their team one that can be in the mix for championships. These players look everywhere to place blame—the coach, the front office, teammates, fans, etc. They need to be looking in the mirror. Players that are always moaning about wanting to play on ‘a contender’ seldom do because they don’t have the mindset of a champion. Pretty simple stuff.

The latest NBA player to go with the ‘trade me a contender’ routine is New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis. Davis wants to play on a team that can contend for an NBA title. Or as his agent, Rich Paul, put it when interviewed on ESPN his client “wants to be traded to a team that allows him a chance to win consistently and compete for a championship.” Of course he wants to go to the Los Angeles Lakers like seemingly every other player in the league. He’s made clear to the team, fans and media that he wants to be a Laker and if that doesn’t happen before next season he’ll be a ‘rental player’ in the meantime.

This sort of thing goes on all the time though the NBA doesn’t like it. In fact, the league’s collective bargaining agreement specifically denies players and their representatives the right to request personnel moves. The league may look the other way when LeBron James does it but not when Anthony Davis does it. The league hit Davis with a $50,000 fine and released a statement that his agent’s comments were “an intentional effort to undermine the contractual relationship between Davis and the Pelicans.” The $50,000 is the most that the league can fine a player without filing a grievance.

In actuality, Davis and his agent are likely doing the New Orleans team a favor. Why would anyone want a player who won’t take responsibility for making his team better? More specifically, why would anyone want a player making $25 million per season who won’t take responsibility for making his team better? For their part, the Pelicans aren’t going to ask ‘how high’ because Davis told them to ‘jump’. They’re not going to move Davis prior to next Thursday’s NBA trade deadline unless they’re offered what they describe as an ‘overwhelming package’ for the petulant power forward.

This all begs the question ‘where will Davis be at the start of the 2019-2020 NBA season’? Of course there are NBA betting odds to help us quantify the probabilities:

ANTHONY DAVIS ON WHICH TEAM TO START 2019 SEASON

LOS ANGELES LAKERS +150
BOSTON CELTICS +175
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS +500
TORONTO RAPTORS +600
NEW YORK KNICKS +800
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS +1200
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS +1600
HOUSTON ROCKETS +2000
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER +2500
SAN ANTONIO SPURS +2500