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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS — On Sunday morning prior to the New Orleans Pelicans final regular-season matchup of the year with the Los Angeles Lakers, Pelicans guard Josh Hart was asked about the potential of playing his former team in the playoffs.
“That’s gonna be us being here and he stays there, that’ll be the talk just about every year whenever we play them,” Hart said. “If we play them in the playoffs, it’ll be who won the trade, this, that and the other.”
The “us” is Hart and teammates Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram.
The “he” is Anthony Davis.
And the trade is the one that brought the Pelicans and Lakers together this summer.
In January 2019, Davis made it clear to Pelicans’ management that he didn’t want to be a part of the organization going forward. After a deal wasn’t found before the trade deadline, Davis stayed with New Orleans for the rest of the season.
At the end of the year, the Pelicans hired David Griffin to run the basketball operations. His first major task was figuring out what to do with – and where to send – Davis. Before he could do that, the Pelicans struck gold in May when they won the NBA lottery and the right to draft Zion Williamson.
Davis still made it clear he wanted to be dealt, and Griffin landed on a deal sending Davis to Los Angeles for Hart, Ball, Ingram, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, a first-round pick in either 2021 or 2022 (if it’s top eight in 2021, it will go to New Orleans, if not, it will be unprotected in 2022), an unprotected pick swap in 2023 as well as an unprotected pick swap in 2024 that the Pelicans could opt to defer to 2025.
Now, Davis is in a starring role alongside LeBron James as the Lakers hold the top seed in the Western Conference. The Pelicans’ rebuild has been accelerated, and New Orleans is in the thick of a playoff push thanks to Williamson, Ingram, Ball and Hart’s play.
So when Hart says the discussion surrounding the two teams will be about who won the trade, the answer may already be known: Both teams won.
All Davis wanted was a chance to compete for a championship, something he’s been able to do this season. The Pelicans wanted the best possible return for Davis, even if trade partners seemed to be shrinking by the minute last spring.
Griffin and the Pelicans got everything they could from the Lakers and also flipped the No. 4 pick in the draft to the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 8, 17 and 35 overall picks – which turned into center Jaxson Hayes, guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker and international prospect Didi Louzada who is playing this season in Australia. New Orleans also picked up a heavily protected 2020 first-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the deal while sending Solomon Hill, the No. 57 pick and a future second to Atlanta.
Davis is averaging a team-best 26.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for the Lakers while helping to lead the team to a conference-best 46-13 record – 5½ games better than the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans are 26-34 after Sunday’s loss to the Lakers and are three games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final spot in the playoffs – and a likely Game 1 in Los Angeles in mid-April.
With Williamson hurt early in the year, the Pelicans stumbled to a 6-22 start that included a 13-game losing streak. But they have found their way since Christmas, going 18-11 for a top-ten win percentage of .621 since the holiday. Ingram turned into an All-Star while Williamson was out earning his first selection to the NBA’s midseason exhibition.
Ingram is averaging career highs in points per game (24.6), rebounds per game (6.3), assists per game (4.3) and steals per game (1.0). Ingram has made more 3-pointers this season with New Orleans (129) than he made in three seasons with the Lakers (127) and he’s making those 3-pointers while shooting a career-best 39.2 percent from deep.
Ingram is set to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season, but all indications from the Pelicans front office is that they love Ingram and want to keep him around long-term – even if it means a max deal in the offseason.
Ball has found his way since the Christmas break. Since Dec. 25, Ball is averaging 13.0 points, 8.3 assists, 7.2 rebounds and shooting 37.6 percent from deep while also forming a bond on and off the floor with Williamson.
And Hart has been a key cog for New Orleans off the bench, averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 2.0 3s per game. Hart is the only reserve in the league averaging those numbers out of 15 players; and the Pelicans are the only team in the league with three players on that list, as Hart is joined by Ball and Ingram.
Hart and Ingram are restricted free agents and eligible for extensions this upcoming offseason. Both could end up being building blocks for what the Pelicans want to do in the future – which is get to where the Lakers are now.
“They are the measuring stick in the West right now, and I don’t think we’re that extremely far away from being able to compete at that level,” Gentry said following Sunday’s loss. “We have a lot of young guys and a lot of things to learn.”
Despite being on the outside looking in at the playoffs, Ingram said he can see the light at the end of the tunnel for what the young Pelicans want to become.
“I don’t see it just in games, but in the work we do every single day away from these games,” Ingram said on Sunday night. “How we practice and the attitudes and the character that we show every single day. I think we have the same approach every single day, and having the same approach is going to make us better.”
Lonzo Brees sounds about right
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) March 2, 2020
The professional team that shares an owner and a complex with the Pelicans are noticing. After a couple of long passes down the court, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas tweeted “Lonzo Brees sounds about right,” referencing the Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees.
Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, who owns season tickets and just finished his ninth season in New Orleans, is watching the Pelicans “push for these playoffs…”:
That game tonight was Liiive!!! I know we ain win but there’s hella promise in this team. Peli’s pushing for these playoffs and I’m bout it!!! Let’s gooo!!! @PelicansNBA pic.twitter.com/svC3kF2PZw
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) March 2, 2020
… That is, a playoff push that’ll very likely have New Orleans heading to face the same Lakers team that completed a regular season sweep against them Sunday. And even if the Pelicans don’t make it there, the Anthony Davis trade that sent both teams on different paths looks like a slam dunk for both organizations.