New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis and San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard are arguably two of the top five players in the NBA today. They are considered as two of the best, if not the best, two-way players in the league right now, excelling on both the offensive and defensive ends of the basketball court.
Another common thing about the two All-Stars is that the Boston Celtics are rumored to be interested in trading for both of them. Since the beginning of the season, rumors have swirled around that the Celtics could go after either one of them before this year’s trade deadline. As it turned out, the deadline passed and the Celtics stayed put, leaving both players still with their respective teams.
Davis has actually been linked to the Celtics since last season when FanSided’s Hardwood Houdini reported that Boston might trade five first-round draft picks, Jayson Tatum, Guershon Yabusele, and Avery Bradley to the Pelicans for the two-time NBA blocks leader.
Last month, Davis admitted in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that hearing Kevin Garnett’s revelation of regret for staying with his original team for too long made him “think” and that he was wondering if he is “following in that same path.” Since then, trade rumors mentioning the five-time NBA All-Star have intensified even more.
However, with Davis leading the Pelicans to their current 10-game winning streak, the rumors have become quieter.
Meanwhile, Leonard was rumored to be unhappy in San Antonio because of how the Spurs have handled his injury situation and the team’s inability to attract other stars. There were also speculations earlier in the year that the Celtics could trade three players for Leonard.
According to a previous Inquisitr article, Boston might offer Tatum or Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart or Marcus Morris, and Yabusele or Aron Baynes to the Pelicans before the deadline, but it apparently did not happen.
However, just recently, Pounding the Rock reported that Leonard is close to returning to play and that the two-time NBA All-Star said he plans to stay with the Spurs for the rest of his career.
With all those developments, SB Nation’s Celtics Blog said that the fans’ dreams of blockbuster deals involving Davis and Leonard will probably remain as just fantasies . According to the blog, Boston is more likely to think about Gordon Hayward’s potential comeback, further improvement by Tatum and Brown, a potential contract extension for Terry Rozier, and re-signing superstar Kyrie Irving to a long-term deal than to trade for either Davis or Leonard.
The Celtics are currently second in the East with a 45-20 record going into the last few weeks of the regular season. Analysts believe that the team as they are right now has a high chance of advancing deep in the playoffs and may even dethrone the Cleveland Cavaliers as Eastern Conference champions this year.
