NBA rumors: Lakers “pulled out” of Anthony Davis trade talks for this reason

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New Orleans Pelicans superstar center Anthony Davis could still become a Los Angeles Lakers player, but it doesn't sound like that will happen before Thursday's NBA trade deadline.

Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday the Lakers have disengaged, at least for now, from trade talks due to the Pelicans' demands.

The Lakers have “pulled out” of any more conversations in trying to acquire New Orleans All-Star Anthony Davis because of the Pelican’s “outrageous” trade requests, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski added additional details from Los Angeles' perspective.

A recent report suggested the Pelicans were seeking a historic offer for Davis, one that included pretty much all of the Lakers' best young players and more than two first-round draft picks. 

The best decision for the Pelicans would be to trade Davis this summer when more teams can get into the bidding, most notably the Boston Celtics, who cannot trade for the veteran center because of the league's Rose Rule (explained here). The Celtics reportedly are among the teams most interested in Davis and can offer the Pelicans a better trade package than the Lakers. C's forward Jayson Tatum, for example, would be a better piece for the Pelicans' upcoming rebuild than any young player on the Lakers roster.

Davis' reported list of interested teams does not include Boston, but that hasn't stopped C's president of basketball operations Danny Ainge in the past, just look at what happened with Kevin Garnett in 2007.

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