February 7th, 12:15am February 6th, 9:57pm Enzo FlojoHot Take Hoops

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been making headlines of late, especially with Kristaps Porzingis’s getting shipped to the Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Davis’s fate still up in the air.

And now that the 2019 NBA trade deadline is about to lapse, things are bound to get even more tense.

Davis, without doubt, is the biggest potential catch of the upcoming deadline although other marquee players may also find themselves in different kits when the deadline finally comes.

But let’s bite the low-hanging fruit and focus on Davis first. As of this writing, the Lakers have offered pretty much the entire city of Los Angeles for AD, which specifically refers to Lonzo Ball (and his dad), Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two future first round picks and salary-cap relief for Solomon Hill amounting to $12.7 million.

Should the Pelicans pull the trigger? In my mind, hell no. If they stand to lose Davis, they may as well wait for a team crazy enough to overpay. And by a mile, too.

Right now, even the Celtics are giving feelers although that may even be a tougher swing than sending AD to LA. And so, we wait. AD remains a Pelican, though doubtful for the next couple of games and he certainly won’t be in NOLA in 2019-2020.

So how about other potential transactions?

Surely less hyped up but also massive is the potential trade value of Memphis veterans Mike Conley, Jr. and Marc Gasol. Long the faces of the Grizzlies’ Grit & Grind persona, both Conley and Gasol are past their respective primes but would be amazing complementary pieces to any wishful title contenders.

Maybe either or both could end up north of the border in Toronto to join Kawhi Leonard. Or maybe with a team like the Spurs, which loves maximizing seasoned players Conley and Gasol.

Next, are we buying the Wizards’ claim that they aren’t open to trading any of their core players? I mean, John Wall is out for at least another 12 months and that can potentially open up the possibility that someone like Bradley Beal may want out of DC, right? Otto Porter Jr.’s name has been going around as well. Is he on the trading block?

And how about Cleveland’s Kevin Love? The six-month restriction on not trading him had lapsed, so an opening is there. But are there any takers for an injury-prone former All-Star who probably can no longer be the No. 1 guy on any team?

Another big man who has publicly expressed his desire to move on is Sudanese-Australian Thon Maker. His minutes have gone down in Milwaukee and he feels he can be a vital contributor elsewhere. He’s big, long, athletic. And has a decent perimeter game. Maybe Houston, who knows?

What other potential trades are in the offing? Who are you expecting to have a new home after the deadline?