Anthony Davis Reaffirms Commitment To New Orleans Pelicans
Anthony Davis spoke with ESPN on Thursday, putting to rest the rumors of him and Russell Westbrook wanting to join forces in L.A. while assuring New Orleans that he is committed to the franchise.
Rest assured, Pelican fans. Anthony Davis is here to stay.
Davis said as much in an interview with ESPN on Thursday when the topic of him and Russell Westbrook teaming up to join the Los Angeles Lakers in the future came up.
The rumor of the two wanting to join forces in L.A. took fire a few days ago when Bleacher Report released an article on how owner Tom Benson and the New Orleans Pelicans’ front office has failed their young superstar.
It’s a well-written piece in which the article details what has gone wrong with the franchise since Benson purchased the team and Davis was drafted five years ago. The real juice, however, came towards the end of the piece — where an interesting anecdote was dropped. Per the report:
"“Thad Foucher of the Wasserman Media Group, the same agency that represents Russell Westbrook, is Davis’ agent. A source close to Davis’ agent floated the possibility that the end game could find the two uniting in Los Angeles with the talent-starved Lakers. Those kind of rumors are the ones that expand into panic when a team flails like the Pelicans have in the last two seasons.”"
So when asked about that possibility during a conference call with ESPN on Thursday, Davis not only reaffirmed his commitment to the Pelicans but also spoke about helping build the franchise back up and personally recruiting point guard, Jrue Holiday, who is in the last year of his deal, to re-sign with the team in the upcoming summer.
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The following are excerpts are from ESPN’s Marc Stein’s report on the Anthony Davis/ESPN conference call:
Regarding teaming up with Westbrook.
"“Look, I’m here. If I was thinking about leaving, I’d never re-sign [last summer]. I’m here to stay.”"
When asked if the slow progress of the franchise would lead him to ask for a trade.
"“I’m here to help this team win [and] put this franchise back on the map,”"
Here, Davis speaks about trying to convince Holiday to stay with the team.
"“I’m doing that right now,” Davis said. “I talk to Jrue all the time. He’ll make his own decisions, but of course we like him here. … We need him to continue to play well and then, at the end of the season, hopefully he decides to re-sign with us.”"
According to spotrac, Davis contract with the Pelicans runs through the 2020-21 season after signing a five-year $127 million contract extension last summer.
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Westbrook is signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder until 2018-19 after he signed a three-year, $85 million extension of his own three months after Davis.
So suffice to say, if the two were to team up, it wouldn’t be for a while. Now of course there’s always the possibility of either Davis or Westbrook pushing for a trade. But according to Anthony Davis, that option is not in the cards.
He seems focused on wanting to be a part of the Pelicans’ turnaround and it may be best to take him at his word. Throughout his tenure with the Pelicans, Davis has put forth his best effort on the court regardless of circumstance; whether it be injury or team record, he always brings it.
However, one must ask: If New Orleans fail to turn the ship around, will he still feel the same way in 2021 at the age of 27 when his deal runs out?
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Only time will tell. But if the Pelicans want to avoid such a scenario, they would be best served to start putting the right pieces in place in order to move in the right direction.