Celtics Trade Rumors Roundup: Anthony Davis Not Excited by Boston, and More

Anthony Davis is currently missing playing time after spraining his left index finger.

While there were a barrage of rumors flying around with Anthony Davis at their epicenter, the big man put an end to most of them finally when he requested a trade out of the New Orleans Pelicans, according to his agent Klutch Sports' Rich Paul.

With the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics posing as clear front-runners to bag the generational talent, we shall shed some light on the factors acting against the Celtics at the moment.

First of all, according to Sports Illustrated,

Unless Boston decides to include Kyrie Irving in the trade, it cannot actually trade for Anthony Davis until July 1, when free agency opens and Irving’s deal comes off the books. Davis and Irving are both presently on Designated Player Extension contracts, and teams can only roster one such player, so unless the Celtics want to deal Kyrie (which doesn’t seem too likely at this point), they are sitting on their hands until after the deadline.

In other words, Kyrie and AD both signed their contract extensions under the 'Rose rule' and by NBA rules, teams cannot trade for more than one player who has signed such an extension. The deadlock can only be resolved when Kyrie re-signs with the Celtics during the upcoming summer.

Secondly, which might be a more serious concern from Boston's standpoint is that Davis does not visualize himself in Boston and the city is not in his radar of probable landing spots, via Yahoo Sports,

"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."

There is no denying the fact that Kyrie and AD have been close friends since time immemorial, but as much as we would like to see this pairing in green, it is no secret that this is a business after all, and a ruthless one at that.

This is great news for the Lakers as they plan on shipping all of their young elite core off for Anthony Davis already. But who knows, this might all be smoke and there might still be a possibility that Irving remains in Boston or that Davis looks towards New York (who possess Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Knox and first-round pick) who can assemble a compelling package as well.

However, none of that is stopping King James from reminiscing about old times with Kyrie publicly, leading to a flood of threads pertaining to a possible reunion in LA as well.

Why’d Bron tag Kyrie though 🧐pic.twitter.com/i7gQg7UPRm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 25, 2019

The Celtics camp is under the microscope currently, and apparently, Danny Ainge is known to pull out tricks from his bag when subjected to the spotlight. The players and coaches are aware of the same as they try and focus on the task at hand, ie, winning.

“I just think we need to focus on what’s in front of us,” Horford said. “Those things are always going to be there and the best thing is not to read or get into that stuff. Take it game-to-game and focus on our team and our group, as hard as it may be.”

“I learned very early on, with our 42 players over my first 18 months here, that there was a lot that’s not true, a little that’s true, and you don’t really pay attention to any of it until it crosses your desk from somebody that’s involved in a conversation,” Coach Stevens said.