The Cleveland Cavaliers have to take Anthony Davis for themselves

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to trade for Anthony Davis before another championship-contender does.

A report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has caused many to speculate on the All-Star Anthony Davis’ future with the New Orleans Pelicans and Davis’ own words may cause a stir in the Big Easy. While his assertion that “winning” is all that matters to him could worry a .500 team that hasn’t been in the playoffs since the 2014-2015 season, it’s his desire to be part of a winning culture that could be most worrying.

This is perhaps the most significant segment of Wojnarowski’s report (bold typeface added by me):

"He loves New Orleans and swears he doesn’t long for a major market. He does, however, long for a well-run, well-balanced franchise. He sees it with San Antonio and Oklahoma City and plans to hold his team accountable to find a way. Cousins’ arrival is a start, but the Pelicans are devoid of depth and developing young talent.“You look at the Warriors, Cleveland, Boston,” he said. “They lose Gordon [Hayward], they’re still playing well. KD-Steph-Draymond-Klay. They play so well with each other. They move the basketball. They don’t care who scores. Steph and Draymond are out, and they still won. KD is out. They still win.“That’s the way the league is now. I don’t see anyone winning without three or four All-Stars. … I was in the [MVP] conversation in my third year, and we didn’t win. We went to the playoffs, got swept, and I dropped out of all that so fast. It’s about winning. You can have all the numbers in the world, but you better win. That’s what it is. This whole league, everything is about winning. Every award. Everything. It’s all about winning.”"

Where Davis’ desire to be part of a well-run and well-balanced franchise is concerned, teammates Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins have discovered problematic routines in their short team in New Orleans that Davis couldn’t possibly be aware of because the Pelicans culture is all he’s ever experienced.

Rondo has been a part of two NBA franchises that are well-regarded in the league in the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. Though Cousins started his career with the dysfunctional front office of the Sacramento Kings, he experienced played under Mike Malone, a well-regarded coach within NBA circles, and one of the winningest coaches in NBA history in George Karl.

That Davis wants to play for that type of franchise puts the Pelicans in an interesting place in terms of establishing a championship culture and being a well-run franchise.

Alvin Gentry has a record of 79-115 with the New Orleans Pelicans over the last three seasons and in order for winning cultures to be established, winning has to happen. It simply hasn’t under Gentry. While firing him to add a marquee name could help, there’s a chance that having three head coaches in four seasons could be dampen Davis’ desire to stay in town.

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With the shortcomings of general manager Dell Demps spotlighted, there could be change in the front office as well. Worthy candidates like Cavs former general manager David Griffin would likely be on the short list. Nonetheless, would sweeping change be a positive for Davis considering that the best franchises exhibit continuity in both their team in front office personnel?

Lastly, with a 90-year-old owner in Tom Benson, it would be miraculous if the ownership of the team is didn’t change hands sooner rather than later. Changing ownership could have a trickle-down effect that permeates the entire franchise.

To stay the course and change course? That is the question.

The Pelicans have until the summer of 2021 to convince Davis to stay but if they fail to reach the playoffs this season or the next, it’s hard to see them not finding a need to make major changes. Once those major changes are made though — and they’d have to be made for fear of continuing along a dead in path — not only will the new regime need to be successful, Davis will have to put his faith in a new front office when he doesn’t seem keen to trust any front office:

"“At the same time, though, you see how organizations treat players. Isaiah Thomas. DeMarcus [Cousins] told me that the [Kings] told him that he wasn’t going to get traded, but they traded him. Isaiah took his team to the Eastern Conference finals, and they traded him.“It makes you wonder: Does this organization really have my back?”"

All things considered, Davis’ future in New Orleans isn’t a guarantee. However, when superstars change teams the altered NBA landscape could cause a butterfly effect.

Kevin Durant joining the Golden State Warriors has made them nearly unstoppable and that level of dominance has caused many teams to tank and wait for a better opportunity to ascend to championship status. LeBron James joining the Miami Heat was the first step to dethroning the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics, the most historically relevant franchise in the NBA. The Celtics, the top-seed in the NBA. The Celtics, the team rumored to want Davis.

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Davis going to the Celtics is one of those moves that would change the landscape of the NBA. Him teaming up with Kyrie Irving would so dynamic a duo that they could make the Celtics the team to beat in the East, even with the Big Three of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Isaiah Thomas and Irving are more-or-less equal. Davis is physically superior to Love and would give him a tough time inside. The Celtics have no match for James but if Gordon Hayward returns healthy, he’s an All-Star caliber forward that can rain buckets if left unchecked.

That’s not what the Cavaliers want to deal with year-in and year-out. Neither is Davis joining Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are another team rumored to have interest in Davis.

While there’s no telling what the Cavs would need to offer for Davis, it’s possible that they’d offer the Brooklyn Nets draft pick along with potentially expiring contracts like Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert’s. The Cavs could also opt to package Kevin Love with their own draft pick, as continuing the team of pairing Cousins with an elite big man could convince Boogie to stay in New Orleans rather than skip town. Love’s reputation around the league isn’t the greatest though, unfortunately, and as a result his trade value isn’t as high as it would be ideally.

That could force the Cavs to offer the Nets’ pick and Love as they go all-in for Davis.

For a player who doesn’t hit free agency until 2021 and can dominate in every way on both sides of the ball, it’s worth it though.

Davis’ mix of youth and talent probably could convince James to stay regardless of the team re-signing Thomas, although the Cleveland Cavaliers are extremely likely to bring Thomas back (given that he’s healthy) since they’re far over the salary cap and won’t be able to sign another All-Star talent unless that player wants to play for the veteran’s minimum.

Because the Cavs have Thomas’ Bird Rights, they can sign him to a larger contract than any other team regardless of having no cap space.

A Big Three of Thomas, James and Davis would be the most dominant three-man unit in the Eastern Conference and legitimately challenge the Warriors Big Four of Durant, Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green for NBA supremacy. A Big Four of Thomas, James, Love and Davis would be the most dominant in the league, hands-down, on paper. It’s easier to see three superstars playing together than four but because Davis and Love get so many of their points from assists and both Thomas and James are intent on making the right play rather than the selfish play, it could certainly work.

One way or the other, it’s in the Cleveland Cavaliers best interests to snatch Davis from competing suitors. Unfortunately, with the most valuable piece of a trade being the Nets’ first-round draft pick, the Cavs could only have until the 2018 NBA Draft to make a deal.

Davis is currently averaging 25.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 56.7 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three-point range and 80.7 percent from the free-throw line. A four-time All-Star (in six seasons), Davis has career averages of 22.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 51.7 percent from the field, 29.8 percent from three-point range and 78.8 percent from the free-throw line.

*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com