The New Orleans Pelicans walked away from the NBA draft lottery with the main prize, securing the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, however that reportedly has done little to sway Anthony Davis' mind.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Davis still wants to be traded from the New Orleans Pelicans, with plenty of teams interested in acquiring the 26-year-old's services.
The New Orleans Pelicans are now set up to be Zion Williamson’s franchise to lift, and No. 1 pick could ease potential trade of Anthony Davis. His stance on a trade has not changed, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 15, 2019
Duke freshman Zion Williamson is widely tipped to be selected first and the Pelicans will look to sell Davis on their future and continue to build what they have in New Orleans, with coach Alvin Gentry confident they can convince him to stay.
"Guys, the one thing you got to understand is [Davis] is still on our roster," Gentry told ESPN.com. "He is on our roster. All of that will take care of itself. I'm not worried about it. I know Griff has some plans to talk to him, and it will be fine."
Coach Alvin Gentry reacts to the @PelicansNBA winning the 2019 #NBADraftLottery. pic.twitter.com/miV5cmVT3Y
— NBA (@NBA) May 15, 2019
It's sure to be a busy summer for Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin, who echoed those sentiments when he was asked if he was looking forward to talking to Davis and his agent, Rich Paul following the lottery results.
"No more so than before. We have reason to believe that’s something that is attractive," Griffin said.
"And if I’m Anthony Davis, I’m skeptical obviously. He’s wanted to win this whole time and he felt compelled to try to win elsewhere. I think if you look at the totality of where this organization is and where we’re going, we feel very strongly that we’re going be the environment he wants to be part of. And if we’re not, that’s fine; we can deal with it from there.
"But I’m looking at this believing that there’s no reason he wouldn’t want to win with us because that’s what we do. It’s who we are. And I think culturally we’re about all the same things."
The Pelicans won the lottery for the second time in their history, the first time, they used the No. 1 pick to select Davis in 2012 from the University of Kentucky.