The Pelicans have vowed not to trade Anthony Davis.
At least that promise can be kept with one trading partner.
The team that would seem the best fit for a Davis trade, considering both its need for a game-changing superstar and its stash of tradable talent, is an impossible fit thanks to an obscure NBA rule.
The Celtics cannot trade for the Brow without including Kyrie Irving in the deal, and they can blame Derrick Rose. The “Rose Rule,” instituted in the 2011 CBA, was intended to reward young stars, allowing them to cash in even more coming off their rookie contracts, with max extensions rising from 25 percent of the salary cap to 30 percent.
To qualify, the player must have been named to start in two All-Star Games or named to the All-NBA team twice or have been an MVP (which is how Rose, the 2010-11 Most Valuable Player, got the rule named for him).
Both Davis and Irving have signed extensions under the Rose Rule, and the CBA forbids teams from having multiple Rose Rule players. If the Celtics want Davis without trading Irving, they would have to wait until July 1, when Irving will be a restricted free agent and no longer on his Rose Rule contract. Davis cannot be a free agent until 2020.
Of course, while Davis has requested a trade, New Orleans doesn’t have to deal him.
“We’re not trading him,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said in December. “I can say that to the world. We’re not going to trade him, no matter what. That’s not an option.”