Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry has confirmed the team plans to sit the six-time All-Star center, who is being pursued by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Davis, 25, will therefore miss Wednesday’s game at the Chicago Bulls, for which he was listed as questionable.
“He is [available], but we’re not going to play him until after the trading deadline,” Gentry said, via ESPN.
“I think everybody can understand that. Obviously, it [the trade talk] is on everyone’s mind. But we just try to put it on the backburner and focus on the task at hand.
“I think everything kind of clears up [after Davis is traded], at least for a while. And you can go back to I guess whatever our new normal is going to be.
“It’s just part of it. It’s part of the business, and you just deal with it like you would anything else.”
Davis participated in Wednesday’s shootaround at the United Center in Chicago, chatting with team-mates and various assistant coaches.
But the Bulls matchup will mark his ninth straight missed game since suffering a left index finger injury on January 18 - the Pelicans have gone 2-6 in his absence.
Gentry’s comments confirm reports that stated the Pelicans’ front office declined to play Davis against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, even though he was deemed healthy.
Davis’ agent Rich Paul said last week his client would not sign an extension with the Pelicans when his contract runs out in 2020 and that he would prefer to be traded.
The Lakers have been actively trying to acquire Davis from the Pelicans, but according to reports, New Orleans is almost looking to be “overcompensated” in a deal to trade him before the deadline.
A market for Davis gets bigger during the offseason as the Boston Celtics cannot make a deal for Davis this season because the Pelicans’ All-Star and Boston guard Kyrie Irving both signed a rookie max contracts and teams are not allowed to have two of those players on a roster at once.
The Pelicans are 23-31, leaving them 13th in the Western Conference.
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