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Get ready to twist your brain into a Dan Wetzel pretzel. I did this so you do not have to. As a result of former North Carolina star Drake Powell being the No. 22 overall pick made by the Atlanta Hawks for the Brooklyn Nets as a part of a three-team trade involving the Boston Celtics to bring Kristaps Porziņģis to Atlanta, this blockbuster trade from right after the Fourth of July 2019 is now completed.
On July 6, 2019, the New Orleans Pelicans landed Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram, as well as the rights to the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, a protected 2021 first-round pick, the right to swap 2023 first-round picks, a 2024 first-round pick and cash. The Washington Wizards got Isaac Bonga, Jermerrio Jones, Moritz Wagner and the Los Angeles Lakers' 2022 second-round pick.
Here is a visual representation of that what that trade looked like when it was made six summers ago.
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft ended up being former Virginia star De'Andre Hunter, whose draft rights went to the Atlanta Hawks as part of a draft-day deal with the New Orleans that sent Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker's draft rights to the Pelicans. As for that protected 2021 first-round pick, that was deferred to 2022 and ended up becoming Dyson Daniels at No. 8.
The second-round pick to the Wizards eventually because point guard Kennedy Chandler, who went to the Memphis Grizzlies. The proposed 2023 first-round pick swap did not occur. The Pelicans picked ta few spots ahead of the Lakers. New Orleans took UConn shooting guard Jordan Hawkins at No. 14 in that draft. The Lakers then took guard Jalen Hood-Schifino out of Indiana at No. 17 overall.
Now, the only unknown pick was the 2024 first-round pick that went to the Pelicans. That ended up being part of the deal that sent Dejounte Murray to New Orleans and Dyson Daniels to Atlanta. That 2024 first-round pick ended up becoming the No. 22 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which Atlanta sent to Brooklyn as part of the three-team trade with the Boston Celtics to land Kristaps Porzingis.
So the end result is one NBA Championship during COVID and the Lakers landing Luka Dončić later.
The Anthony Davis trade from the Pelicans to the Lakers has finally ended
I spent way more time than I intended attempting to make sense out of nonsense. We had star players changing hands over the course of six years, all of which were directly and indirectly connected. While Atlanta seems to have benefited the most from the series of moves in the end, how should we feel about it when it comes to the Lakers? Well, they got a title and exchanged its star.
While I remain suspicious of Dončić ever winning an NBA Finals with the Lakers, especially with a team built around an aging LeBron James, Davis always felt to me like a player who would win one NBA Finals and nothing more in his NBA career. He was a superstar during his one year at Kentucky. Throughout his NBA career, I was always left wanting more out of him. I feel the same about Dončić.
In the end, the team that trades for the biggest star often wins the trade. That is usually the case in the NBA. Where I think this one may be different is teams who continually take advantage of teams who are power hungry, or do not know what they are doing. The Pelicans seemed to have made a mess of it on multiple occasions. In a weird way, the Lakers come out of this a better than expected.
Now we just need to see how the ripple effects of the Davis-Doncic trade come together over time.