All those rumors that had New Orleans Pelicans’ superstar forward Anthony Davis available were a bit premature. In fact, it’s safe to say they are as close to baseless as you can get. Anthony Davis, the cornerstone of the Pelicans franchise is staying put and despite the team’s struggles, he wants to stay in New Orleans.
In an interview with ESPN Radio’s Meet The All-Stars that will air this Satruday, Davis discussed his desire to stay with the only team he has played for.
“Look, I’m here. If I was thinking about leaving, I’d never re-sign [last summer]. I’m here to stay,” Davis said (h/t ESPN). Davis is referring to the deal he signed last summer, a five-year, $127 million contract extension.
Davis was asked about the possibility of teaming up with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook in Los Angeles as part of the Lakers, a concept that has been a recent topic of discussion. Davis was also asked about the franchise’s progress, which was categorized as slow.
“I’m here to help this team win [and] put this franchise back on the map,” Davis said. Davis also stated that he will be very active in convincing Jrue Holiday to re-sign with the team this summer.
“I’m doing that right now,” Davis said. “I talk to Jrue all the time. He’ll make his own decisions, but of course we like him here. … We need him to continue to play well and then, at the end of the season, hopefully he decides to re-sign with us.”
The Pelicans have been linked to trades with the Philadelphia 76ers for Jahlil Okafor and the Brooklyn Nets regarding Brook Lopez among others.
“Our front office is doing everything to improve our team every day,” Davis said. “My job’s to go on the court and perform very well and [help] the team perform well where we can make that happen.”
Davis also recently spoke to The Times Picayune‘s Jeff Duncan about the possibility of leaving the team in the future.
“I don’t plan on leaving, so make sure you write that down” Davis stated. “I don’t pay attention to (the rumors), I don’t know who said it or how it came about. I’m with the Pelicans right now.”
The Pelicans are currently on the outside looking in on the Western Conference playoff picture and it will require a late surge from the team to qualify for the postseason.
“We’ve got to find a way to keep fighting” Davis said about the team’s current position.
“We have a team that is able to compete for the playoffs. We showed that a couple of times this year (in January wins against the Cavaliers and Spurs). We feel we are just as good as any other team in this league. We just need to find a way to stay a little more healthy and be a little more consistent.
I like our team we have now … We always are just kind of injured. It’s tough to win games when a lot of the top guys are out.”
New Orleans may not be too worried about a Davis departure now, but they need to start putting more talent around Davis to help elevate the team to playoff contention on an annual basis otherwise they may not be able to re-sign Davis in the future.