Why ever would the Pelicans rush to trade him now?

Trading now only really helps the Lakers. The Pelicans can talk themselves into it being a fair trade, but come on.

No. If you’re the Pelicans you wait until the Celtics can talk. They have the better pieces. And the Lakers will still be as desperate in July as they are in January.

So what if AD won’t resign with the Celtics. If I’m Ainge I’m like “who cares we’ll still go to the Finals for two years” And if you think both the Celtics and Pelicans aren’t already having “off-the-record” talks you’re crazy. If the players can collude all they want out in the open now then GMs can text each other like it’s nothing.

Who cares what Lebron’s California Cabal wants. The Pelicans could set themselves up for the future and the Celtics could go all in for a short window. The Lakers problems are theirs alone and I think they’re actually in a tough spot if the Pelicans are patient.