Anthony Davis Lakers: Pelicans Center Still Loves LA After Magic Resigns

Anthony Davis Lakers trade news rumors

Getty New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis

The sudden resignation of Lakers president Magic Johnson is the exclamation point on a disastrous season for Los Angeles. Bring in LeBron James and still finish under .500? Check. Potentially trading away their entire young core in February? Check. Constant talks about head coach Luke Walton’s job security? Check.

With all that chaos and disappointment, who would want to sign up for the purple and gold? Apparently. Anthony Davis still likes L.A.

According to an interview with ESPN’s Nick Friedell, Johnson’s departure doesn’t change his opinion of the Lakers.

Does Johnson’s resignation change the way he feels about the Lakers?

“No,” Davis said. “A great organization. Just like 29 other organizations. I have nothing to do with that.”

While he’s evasive about his future with New Orleans publicly, bad advice from his Klutch Sports agency associates has led to a “toxic” situation per Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry.

When asked after Tuesday’s regular-season finale, a 112-103 loss to the Golden State Warriors, if he had ever seen a situation like this during his time in the league, Gentry was quick with an answer.

“Not this toxic, no,” Gentry said. “Not that affected two teams. And two guys. One lost his job and the other one resigned from his job. So no, in 31 years I hadn’t had anything that would equal this kind of fallout. No, I haven’t.”

In fact, Johnson’s move may actually help Davis get to Los Angeles faster. Not only was Johnson unwilling to pull the trigger on a massive trade, which would have involved Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and many others, he was looking to fire Walton. According to Bill Oram of The Athletic, Davis actually approves of the third-year coach.

“Sources around the team said it was apparent that the young players no longer trusted [LeBron] James, believing he was operating behind the scenes to get them traded to New Orleans. At one point, some in Walton’s circles feared [Rich] Paul was trying to use the Davis situation to leverage a coaching change, with the premise being that his arrival would require a higher-caliber coach. But the Lakers received backchannel information that Davis liked Walton and that relieved pressure on the third-year head coach.”

According to Bryan Kalbrosky of Hoops Hype, there’s still a lot of competing front office politics in Los Angeles, as owner Jeannie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka have competing interests in who will be the head coach next season.

None of this means that Walton’s job is safe in Los Angeles, despite public support from franchise owner Jeanie Buss. There have been numerous rumors and reports that the current coach is on his way out after the season.

There is no clear frontrunner for the job (should it open up), though Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard is considered the current favorite. Not only did Howard previously play with James, he also played alongside Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka while in college. Howard has an implied probability of 20.0 percent. For comparison, betting odds give Walton an implied probability of just 12.5 percent to keep his job.

Davis, if his eyes are truly on the Lakers and only the Lakers, may just be trading one toxic situation for another.