Jeff Teague wants Raptors to trade for Anthony Davis for the most disrespectful reason

Jeremy Beren

•
Jeff Teague wants Raptors to trade for Anthony Davis for the most disrespectful reason image

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The future of Anthony Davis seems more and more likely to be far away from Dallas.

ESPN's Shams Charania has reported that a trio of Eastern Conference contenders — the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors — are in the running to acquire Davis from the Mavericks, who are set to retool around 2025 top pick Cooper Flagg.

But former All-Star Jeff Teague, who spent most of his 12-year career in Atlanta, does not necessarily want to see the Hawks swing a big trade for Davis, a future Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.

Instead, he wants Davis to join the Raptors — for an unusual, if not petty, reason.

Following the Raptors' 117-101 NBA Cup quarterfinal loss to the New York Knicks, Teague said he "likes" Davis to Toronto because there will be less "pressure" on him there.

"No disrespect to Toronto, but nobody cares about the Raptors," Teague said. "With him and (Brandon Ingram), they'd have a nice squad. They can make some noise, and AD can just be under the radar and hoop again."

Davis has spent years in the spotlight since the New Orleans Pelicans dealt him to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2019. And his involvement in the Luka Doncic trade in February put unwelcome pressure on the five-time All-NBA selection.

Maybe Teague has a point, even if it was made indelicately: though Toronto is a huge city, it is a smaller basketball market, and there aren't quite as many championship expectations on the Raptors this year.

More NBA news:

Staff Writer