NBA rumors: Pelicans agree to trade All-Star Anthony Davis to Lakers

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Anthony Davis is on his way to LA.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday that the New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to trade the All-Star center to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round draft picks.

LA is where Davis seemingly wanted to end up all along, and he got his wish.

Wojnarowski reported Wednesday that the Pelicans had engaged with the Lakers and the Celtics in separate trade talks. It took three days after that for New Orleans and LA to reach an agreement.

The New York Times' Marc Stein reported Saturday that Boston wouldn't trade Jayson Tatum, stalling those talks.

Davis, a three-time All-NBA performer, has one year left on his contract and a player option for the 2020-21 season, but he is expected to decline that and become a free agent next summer.

The Pelicans didn't want to trade Davis to the Lakers during the season, but with new general manager David Griffin at the helm, that all changed. The package heading back to the Pelicans includes the No. 4 overall pick in next week's 2019 NBA Draft, and Wojnarowski reported that also could be traded.

New Orleans already holds the No. 1 overall selection and is expected to take Duke star Zion Williamson.

With the Warriors likely not contending for a title in 2019-20 because of the injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, the Lakers sensed their chance to pounce — and pounce they did. Adding Davis to LeBron makes the Lakers instant NBA title contenders.

They also didn't have to include Kyle Kuzma in the deal, which was key.

The next step is finding a point guard to replace Ball, and it appears the Lakers have their eyes on free agent Kemba Walker.

[RELATED: Warriors unaccustomed to uncertain summer]

The Warriors will get the first shot at the new-look Lakers as the teams will play the first preseason game at Chase Center on Oct. 5.

After missing the playoffs this past season, the Lakers are hell-bent on getting back to the postseason, so they’re pulling out all the stops.

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