NBA Trade Rumors: Celtics Could Acquire Anthony Davis For ‘Herschel Walker-Type Of Deal,’ Per Chris Mannix

All-Star center Anthony Davis has already expressed his desire to end his NBA career with the New Orleans Pelicans, but his name still continues to surface in various trade rumors in the past months. For a player of Davis’ caliber, the Pelicans definitely have the right to demand valuable trade assets that could help them speed up the rebuilding process.

As of now, numerous rumors suggested that Anthony Davis will be teaming up with his fellow Klutch Sports client LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers. When they signed James in the recent free agency, Lakers President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson and General Manager Rob Pelinka revealed that they are still planning to add another superstar either via trade or free agency. The Lakers have a plethora of trade assets to engage in a blockbuster deal where they could potentially offer at least two of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, and Brandon Ingram.

However, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated believes that the Boston Celtics could beat the Lakers in terms of the trade package that they could offer to the Pelicans for their lone superstar.

“I still think the Celtics by far and away (have) more assets than anybody else when it comes to acquiring Anthony Davis — or acquiring anybody in the NBA,” Mannix said Monday night on NBC Sports Boston.

Aside from the collection of young and promising talents like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Terry Rozier, the Celtics also own multiple future draft picks. As Mannix noted, the Celtics will be needing to come up with a “Herschel Walker-type of deal” to convince the Pelicans to send Anthony Davis to Boston.

“Anthony Davis is going to require the biggest package of players in NBA history,” Mannix said. “It’s going to be a Herschel Walker-type of deal to go get Davis.”

Boston may need to slow its roll on Anthony Davis dreams. After just a 13-10 start Kyrie believes “there’s no more time to waste” https://t.co/oTY7XmTrM3 pic.twitter.com/Sz2zssYq7p

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 3, 2018

Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge won’t mind giving up his precious trade assets for the opportunity to acquire a very talented big man like Anthony Davis on their roster. Davis will tremendously improve the Celtics’ performance on both ends of the floor. This season, Davis is posting incredible statistics, averaging 28.2 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2.7 blocks, and 1.6 steals on 50.5 percent shooting from the field and 36.0 percent from beyond the arc.

However, unless the Celtics are willing to include Kyrie Irving in the trade package, they will be needing to wait until the 2019 NBA offseason to pursue Anthony Davis. As Boston.com noted, an NBA team cannot trade for more than one player who has signed an extension under the “Rose Rule.”