Report: Celtics Accuse Agent Rich Paul Of Planting Kyrie Irving-Knicks Story During Anthony Davis Drama
BOSTON (CBS) -- The drama of the NBA trade deadline is long gone. Or so we thought.
Most of the drama centered around Anthony Davis, whose agent tried his damnedest to force a trade from New Orleans to Los Angeles ahead of last Thursday's deadline. But despite Rich Paul's best efforts to bully the Pelicans into making a move, Davis is still in New Orleans, where he'll remain until the trade frenzy really kicks up this summer.
That's when the Boston Celtics can enter the mix. But Davis' camp really didn't want to wait until this summer, and really wanted their player to join forces with LeBron James in L.A. Paul just so happens to represent the Lakers' superstar/NBA commissioner.
The Celtics reportedly urged the Pelicans to hold off on trading their star until this summer. That just got Paul and company to resort to some fan fiction, according to a new report. According to Sean Deveney of the Sports News, the Celtics were none-too-pleased with Paul's antics during the Davis drama, accusing him of planting the story that Kyrie Irving was no longer set on signing a long-term deal with the Celtics in the summer, and wanted to join the Knicks instead:
The Celtics were annoyed by the story of Irving having eyes for New York, not because of Irving, but because they felt the story was planted by Davis' agent, Rich Paul, in order to scare the Pelicans into thinking Boston would back off making a trade offer for Davis in July if Irving left.
"It was cheap and underhanded," one source told SN.
Celtics president of basketball ops. Danny Ainge denied those claims during his Thursday morning appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich.
"I don't know how it got out there, but I do not [think they planted that story]," said Ainge.
Ainge may be denying it, but the timing of the Irving new was way to coincidental. After Irving declared his intentions to re-up with Boston at an October season ticket holder event, we hadn't heard anything about his future until Davis let the world know he wanted out of New Orleans. Even though the Celtics couldn't enter the mix this season, they have the pieces to put together the best offer for Davis this summer. That puts a huge damper in Paul and James' plan to get Davis to Los Angeles.
None of this should be any surprise. This is the NBA after all, where the offseason is usually more entertaining and dramatic than the Finals. If anything, it just adds some more juice to the drama that will come this summer.