The Pelicans are acting as if Anthony Davis will never play for them again

A week before the NBA’s trade deadline, the New Orleans Pelicans are in no rush to grant Anthony Davis’ trade request, general manager Dell Demps is reportedly not even picking up his phone to consider potential offers and coach Alvin Gentry insisted that the five-time All-Star is still an integral part of the team, but the organization is sure acting as if Davis will never play in New Orleans again.

In the hours after the team scrubbed Davis from its pregame introduction video montage, The New York Times’ Marc Stein reported that, while the Pelicans have not officially shelved Davis for good, they are considering sitting him out through the Feb. 7 deadline and for the remainder of the season.

Asked Wednesday whether he expected Davis to ever play for the Pelicans again, Gentry filibustered:

“That’s a hard thing to answer,” Gentry told a growing horde or reporters at the Smoothie King Center. “I don’t really know how to answer that, really. I assume that he will. That’s something that obviously is going to have to be discussed and seeing what’s best for him and what’s best for our team.”

Davis sat out Wednesday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, his sixth straight absence due to a left index finger injury. The Pelicans have fallen to 23-29 on the season, third from the bottom of the Western Conference standings. They are six games in the loss column out the playoffs with 30 games left.

Davis remained on the bench for much of Wednesday’s game, hearing a smattering of boos from the crowd when he joined his teammates after the opening tip and escaping to the locker room before the end of a five-point defeat, per ESPN’s Royce Young. In addition to scrubbing him from pregame pomp and circumstance, the team reportedly removed his jersey from sales displays in the arena.

It makes sense for both Davis and Pelicans to bench the superstar for the rest of his tenure in New Orleans, whether or not he is dealt at the deadline. The 25-year-old has suffered a series of injuries in his career, and another one could harm the short- or longterm trade market, depending on severity.

Of greater import for the Pelicans is increasing their lottery odds for the rebuild ahead. They currently own the 10th-best lottery odds — a three percent chance at the No. 1 pick and 13.9 percent shot at a top-four selection — but they could realistically “catch” the Memphis Grizzlies to climb as high as sixth (nine percent chance at the top pick and 37.2 shot at the top four). Playing Davis hinders that possibility.

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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach

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