A new book called "Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of LeBron-Lakers" is about to be released. The Athletic published some details in the book, revealing the negotiation process between the Lakers and the Pelicans when they acquired Anthony Davis.
The book writes: "(Pelicans general manager David) Griffin knew that LeBron and the Lakers could be very short-sighted. He began to pressure Pelinka to demand more conditions. First, he insisted not to accept any additional players; because he was bearish on the Lakers' future, he did not want to help the Lakers free up salary space to pursue a third star. He also told Pelinka that he wanted a draft pick swap - which is used by NBA management A simple way to circumvent the 'Stepin Rule.' This rule was introduced in the late 1980s to prevent teams from trading away first-round picks two years in a row. It was named after former Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, who had devastated the team by trading five consecutive first-round picks. "
" When Griffin raised the idea of a pick swap, Pelinka said he would consider it. The two talked again. Griffin then summoned management to a conference room to report on the progress. He told the team the conversation had taken a strange turn. According to multiple Pelicans basketball operations employees, Griffin said Pelinka told him that Buss didn't understand what a pick swap was. At first Griffin thought it was just a negotiating tactic — after all, it’s common practice for general managers to blame their bosses for deadlocks. But then, as Griffin relayed it to the team, Pelinka posed a rhetorical question: If the roles were reversed, how would Griffin explain the pick swap to his boss? "
" However, the Lakers don't care about such minutiae, and they certainly won't let a seemingly insignificant swap of draft picks hinder their pursuit of their latest superstar. Jenny, in particular, remembers her father, Jerry Buss, being a fan of Davis when he was still at the University of Kentucky. "