NBA rumors: Anthony Davis views every team but Lakers as one-year stop

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Programming note: Watch the pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders tonight at 6:00pm P.T., streaming live on the MyTeams app.

It appears that Anthony Davis has made up his mind. The five-time All-Star (it will be six-time All-Star very soon) reportedly wants to play for the Lakers. and it's only a matter of time before that becomes a reality.

The latest intel comes from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe:

Teams interested in trading for Davis -- including the Boston Celtics -- are in full fact-finding mode and the intel coming back is this, sources tell ESPN: Davis' plan is to treat any trade destination as a one-year stop -- except, of course, the Lakers. Teams are learning that Davis' stated intention will be to play the season elsewhere if traded outside of the Lakers, but move to the Lakers as a free agent in 2020.

While this may be the permanent mindset of Davis and his agent Rich Paul, it's also quite possible that there is some posturing going on because the trade deadline is a week away. If Paul is able to convince the Pelicans that Davis is not going to re-sign with anybody else other than the Lakers in the summer of 2020, then it's in New Orleans' best interest to send The Brow to Los Angeles now.

Why? Because why would another team trade a bunch of assets for Davis if he's only going to be there for one season? We know that some teams would be willing to take that risk -- with the belief that they could convince Davis to stick around long-term (we are looking at you, Boston and/or New York).

This is similar to the situation in Toronto with Kawhi Leonard, but the Raptors didn't have to give up as much as a team would in this case to acquire Davis.

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So, how does this new information impact the Warriors? Well, if Davis does get traded to anybody other than the Lakers, perhaps his mindset changes over the next 18 months and he enters free agency in the summer of 2020 with a legitimate interest in testing the market. At that point, the Warriors just might be in position to be a serious contender in the sweepstakes.

That, of course, will depend on where things stand with free agents-to-be Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Don't forget that Draymond Green is scheduled to be a free agent in July 2020 as well.

One piece of advice to remember as you think about all of the hypotheticals -- anything is possible in today's NBA so everything is on the table.  Except for the Warriors trading Steph Curry, duh.

Drew Shiller is the co-host of Warriors Outsiders. Follow him on Twitter @DrewShiller

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