Did Pelicans sabotage Lakers as revenge for tampering?

Revenge is a dish best served cold and with a side of Dell Demps.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been working hard to try and acquire Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans following Davis’ trade demand issued last week. All reports have indicated so far that the Pelicans are toying with the Lakers, first by telling them they don’t consider their trade offers to be serious, and then by not responding to their improved offers.

The result is that about half of the Lakers’ roster has been named in the trade talks — seemingly leaked by the Pelicans to the media — which undermines the Lakers by interrupting their team chemistry. How hard will the players play for the organization and for LeBron James if they know the team and James wants to trade them for Davis? We saw the answer on Tuesday night.

This sort of tampering and working behind-the-scenes with trade demands by a player 1.5 seasons away from free agency does not sit well with many fans, nor should it. It’s bad for the overall health of the league and makes it seem like certain teams have no shot at winning if their best players are forcing their way out so early. LeBron James complained about that on Instagram, but he’s missing the point.