Celtics to Make ‘Strong Run’ at Anthony Davis If Pelicans Make Him Available

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The Boston Celtics are sitting pretty after landing Gordon Hayward in free agency to pair up with Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford and a talented all-around roster. But, they apparently aren’t quite done wheeling and dealing, especially if one specific huge name becomes available.

According to Chris Mannix of The Vertical, “rival executives” in the league pointed out that the Celtics are currently keeping an eye on the New Orleans Pelicans. The reason? Boston is prepared to make a “strong run” at a potential trade for power forward Anthony Davis if he winds up becoming available. As Mannix points out, the Pelicans are committed to seeing if the Davis-DeMarcus Cousins pairing can work, but if it doesn’t, then this rumor could pick up a whole lot of steam quickly.

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Obviously, this isn’t quite as easy as the Celtics just adding Davis without any big issue. Sure, they’d have the talent and draft picks to trade for Davis, and could probably put together the most appealing offer of nearly any team in the league. But, they just recently had to clear up cap space by trading Avery Bradley in order to officially sign Hayward.

If the Celtics were able to put together a package that was enough to entice the Pelicans to trade Davis, it could be the missing piece that brings a championship back to Boston. The Celtics are certainly talented enough at this point to push the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference, but they may struggle against a team like the Golden State Warriors or potentially the Houston Rockets, should they wind up landing Carmelo Anthony.

Davis is a franchise-changing player, and seeing him playing alongside Hayward and Thomas would be another level of scary for opposing teams. If the Celtics could keep Horford as well? They’d be on the verge of approaching the Warriors level in the blink of one offseason and part of a regular season. Davis has averaged at least 20.8 points in his past four seasons and is fresh off a year in which he averaged 28 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

He’s a do-it-all type of player, and the Celtics could certainly build their franchise around Davis, Hayward, Thomas and Horford, should they manage to find a way to work the numbers out. Fortunately, the front office doesn’t need to worry about how the salary cap situation would look just yet, but just maybe, they may already have a plan in place if Davis does become available via trade.