The Boston Celtics have told the New Orleans Pelicans to hold off on trading Anthony Davis before the trade deadline as they believe they have the best trade package to offer. 

The Celtics want to keep Jayson Tatum in any potential deal for Davis, but could offer Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Marcus Smart, and a bevy of first-round picks at their disposal, including a future Memphis first-round pick that becomes unprotected in 2021.

Davis did not have the Celtics on his initial list of desired destinations because his camp do not believe that them re-signing Kyrie Irving is a lock.

Davis' position is that he will sign with the Lakers in 2020 and a trade to any other team will be a 1-year rental.

The Celtics believe that Irving would re-sign if they traded for Davis, and that Davis would not walk out on a core of him, Irving, and Tatum when he becomes a free agent in 2020.

As the February 7th trade deadline approaches, Anthony Davis' stated intention is that he will sign with the Lakers in 2020 as a free agent and a trade to any other team will be a one-year rental for the superstar.

Teams interested in trading for Davis want to see if his stance softens once the February 7th trade deadline passes.

Pelicans general manager Dell Demps has yet to return Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka's phone calls to discuss a trade for Anthony Davis, although Demps is responding to other general managers.

The Pelicans are ready to play a long-term game with Davis, including keeping him through next season to force the Lakers to play another year without Davis.

The Los Angeles Lakers will aggressively pursue a trade for Anthony Davis before the February 7th trade deadline.

The Lakers, confident that Davis would sign a long-term deal if they were to trade for him, will speak to the Pelicans soon.

The Pelicans do not plan on trading Davis before the deadline unless they are overwhelmed with a package. They are reportedly waiting for the Celtics to become a trade partner this summer and believe that the Lakers best offer will still be on the table then. 

Anthony Davis has ruled out the Boston Celtics as one of his favored destinations following a trade request away from the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Celtics could not currently trade for Davis unless they deal Kyrie Irving due to the "Derrick Rose Rule".

Yet there is a "growing belief of uncertainty" of whether Irving will re-sign with the Celtics this summer, despite saying that he would at the beginning of the season, according to sources.

Irving has struggled with his newfound leadership role this season, criticizing younger teammates and seeking advice from LeBron James on how to deal with difficult personalities. 

Following the Golden State Warriors' 115-111 win over the Boston Celtics, an anonymous Warriors player told Jeff Goodman that Gordon Hayward was hurting the Celtics on both ends of the court.

“I talked to a Warriors player who told me, ‘listen, Gordon Hayward is not Gordon Hayward right now. He’s hurting them. He’s a liability on both ends of the court'," reported Goodman on the Garden Report.

Hayward finished the game with just 2 points on 0-5 shooting.  

Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing an opponent in an attempt to escalate a physical altercation and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection.

The incident, which took place after Smart was assessed his second technical foul and was ejected, occurred with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 19 at State Farm Arena.

LeBron James was coincidentally having dinner with Kevin Love in Los Angeles when Kyrie Irving called him to apologize for being "a young player."

James returned Irving's call later in private.

A source close to James said he was very appreciative that Irving called him. There relationship has believed to have frays, but some repairs are underway.

Irving requested a trade from the Cavaliers in 2017 because he no longer wanted to play with James.

“Kyrie knows he left a year early,” said another key player from those Cavs teams, who asked not to be named. “We were supposed to take another run at it (last season) and then take a look at everything.”

“I think Kyrie can be a great leader,” Channing Frye said. “I think this shows some real growth on his part. I’m excited for him and for what he’ll be able to do in that role.”

After getting criticized for his response following a Boston Celtics loss to the Orlando Magic last weekend, Kyrie Irving said he called LeBron James to apologize for being a selfish, young teammate.

"I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people. [LeBron] was one of those guys who came to Cleveland and tried to show us how to win a championship, and it was hard for him, and sometimes getting the most out of the group is not the easiest thing in the world," said Irving. 

Irving criticized his younger teammates' inability to handle expectations following the loss to the Magic. Jaylen Brown responded to Irving's comments by saying the Celtics "can't be pointing fingers", to which Irving also apologized for in public.

Irving said he's grown to appreciate James' style of leadership now that he's in the same place that James was when Kyrie was a young player. Irving admitted that he took criticism from James too personally.

"I feel like the best person to call was him, because he's been in this situation. He's been there with me. I've been the young guy, being a 22-year-old kid and I want everything. I want everything right now. Coming off an All-Star year starting and this heck of a presence is coming back and now I gotta adjust my game to this guy. You take it personal, but at the end of the day, he wants what's best. And he has a legacy he wants to leave, and he has a window he wants to capture. So, I think what that brought me back to was like, all right, how do I get the best out of this group to the success they had last year and then helping them realize what it takes to win a championship."

The Memphis Grizzlies owe a protected first round pick to the Boston Celtics, which conveys if is outside the top-8 in 2019 and the top-6 in 2020 before becoming unprotected in 2021.

The Grizzlies' future is uncertain as Marc Gasol and Mike Conley Jr. get older.

"I think Memphis would rather get this obligation over with and give the Celtics the 10th pick in this draft then roll it over when the protections get even lighter and maybe Gasol leaves, maybe Conley is a year older," said Zach Lowe on The Bill Simmons Podcast.

"Memphis, according to everyone I've talked to, would rather get it over with now unless they spiral so badly."

Jaylen Brown told the media that he feels the finger-pointing between teammates of the Boston Celtics has created additional struggles.

“We’ve just got to have each other’s backs at the end of the day,” Brown said. “We can’t make comments, we can’t point fingers. We just have to continue to empower each other and have each other’s backs. If we don’t, if we start pointing fingers, everybody’s going to go into their own little shells. We’ve got to continue to play basketball. It starts from the top to the bottom. Not from the bottom to the top but the top to the bottom. We’ve got to continue to empower each other and make the best of this. We have a lot of talent, and we know what we’re capable of doing. We have to go out there and do it. Playing free, playing loose, having fun.”

Kyrie Irving walked back his comments on Monday blaming the young players on the Celtics.

“Sometimes I may come off and say things, never to question my teammates in public like that ever again, but I just want to win so bad,” Irving said. “I came from a place where I asked for a trade and I come in here and believe in this organization, and I want these young guys to be successful.”

“It’s not one guy’s fault,” Brown said. “It’s not young guys, old guys' fault. It’s everybody. We all have to be accountable to turn this thing around. There’s stretches where we play good basketball, and stretches we don’t, but we all have to have each other’s backs.”