You can barely go five minutes without coming across a story or a report addressing the New Orleans Pelicans-Anthony Davis situation. Now his camp has apparently given the Pelicans a list of teams he’ll sign with. Of course, the Boston Celtics aren’t one of those teams, but that’s beside the point.
Davis’ landing spot is such a hot topic for a litany of reason, one being he could turn a good team into a force that has the potential to compete with the Golden State Warriors.
Only thing is, that may be irrelevant if there’s anything to Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob’s recent comments.
In a conversation with The Athletic, Lacob addressed Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson’s impending free agency, as well as Draymond Green’s in 2020.
“We can do whatever we want (financially),” Lacob said. “And you should expect that’s not going to be a reason this team … doesn’t stay great going forward. We have the capital to pay our players what they deserve. And we will.
“That’s not really the issue. The issue is more about people have to want to play here and it’s on us to make it a great environment.”
Telling your star players you’ll pay them what they want and deserve regardless of the luxury tax costs seems like a good way to ensure you’re creating a “great environment.”
But what does this mean for the rest of the NBA?
The Warriors’ core-four group has proven to be an unstoppable force in their time together. They were even a tough trio before Kevin Durant showed up. Sure, they’ve had tougher moments in the postseason and have off days in the regular season, but everyone still focuses on chasing Golden State. They are the bar. Teams are constructing rosters that will match-up well against the Warriors, with the hopes it will carry them through everyone else along the way.
Now, the Celtics could combat them with Davis alongside, depending on which pieces stick around, and LeBron James could put up a fight if he had the big man alongside. But those are still “could” scenarios.
Furthermore, this could throw a wrench in the plans of the teams who’ve been rebuilding to prepare for the day the Warriors lose Durant and/or Thompson. Without one of those two, they’re a contender but no longer the lock they’ve become.
If that does change for another two to four years, then that could lead to even more calamity and snap-decision player movement throughout the league over the next few years.
