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Anthony Davis instructed his agent, Rich Paul, to let the New Orleans Pelicans know that he’s uninterested in signing a mega-rich extension this upcoming offseason, meaning the Davis Sweepstakes have officially begun — with the team (rightfully) asking for a f*cking king’s ransom for their superstar. And, while there have been a lot of team’s rumored to be in the race for the five-time All-Star, there are only a number of franchises out there who can actually pull off the deal.
One of those would, presumably, be the Boston Celtics, who have long-been in the Anthony Davis rumor mill for the past couple years because of the young talent and other assets at their disposal. On paper, a Jason Tatum, Gordon Heyward and one or two future first-round picks looks enticing as hell, but there’s on major problem — Davis is concerned that Boston may lose its best player to free-agency this summer, too, Kyrie Irving.
That’s according to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes, who had this to say about the possibility that Kyrie may bolt Beantown, which is why Anthony Davis doesn’t include Boston on his “top target list.”
Regarding team preferences, Boston is not a top target for Davis, sources said. There’s a growing belief of uncertainty that Kyrie Irving will not re-sign with Boston, sources said, even though he vowed to do so at the beginning of the season.
Anthony Davis has made it known that he wants to play for championships, and, of all the rumored teams out there, at this very moment, the Boston Celtics may give him the No. 1 opportunity to do so. Thing is, the franchise isn’t going to sell the farm for a rental in order to win a title, then lose one or both Irving and Davis this summer to free-agency. Coupled with the parts necessary to even get Anthony Davis, such a move could set the team back years.
Then again, don’t forget this video of Kyrie Irving from last October of him proclaiming to fans that he was re-signing.
“If you guys will have me back, I plan on re-signing here.” – @KyrieIrving https://t.co/0wDLzuv5WL
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 4, 2018
But, as we’ve seen with plenty of other athletes over the years, just because he says something one month, doesn’t mean it’ll happen a year later. Paul George ring a bell?
While the Boston Celtics have championship-level talent, Kyrie has voiced his frustration with younger players who don’t know what it takes to actually win a title. Due to that, the speculation that Haynes mentions is probably legit. But with NBA superstars all buddy-buddy these days, always working back channels to shock the world by teaming up together, could something happen between Anthony Davis and Irving that has them both agreeing to re-up with the Celtics this summer? Of course. In fact, it’s something they’ve probably already talked about — hence the rumors of Kyrie possibly leaving.
Who knows how all this drama is going to go down, but, one thing’s for sure, whoever wins the Anthony Davis Sweepstakes will instantly become a title-contender, so this is going to be fun to see how it all unravels.