NEW ORLEANS -- Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said Monday that All-Star center Anthony Davis has been cleared to return to practice. He suffered a sprained left index finger in January that has kept him off the court for seven games.
Whether Davis will play another game for the Pelicans is a question that Gentry couldn't answer.
"He's been cleared to practice. So he'll practice," Gentry said.
Asked if Davis will play once he's ready, Gentry repeated that the center has been cleared to practice. Gentry was then asked whether he is authorized to make the decision as to when Davis will play.
"I don't make those decisions," Gentry said. "I was told that he was cleared to practice. That's what I know."
Davis requested a trade from the Pelicans last week, and New Orleans is now aware of a list of teams the center would sign with long-term. That includes the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, according to a report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Citing league sources, Wojnarowski also reported that Lakers president Magic Johnson made a more robust bid to the Pelicans for Davis on Monday, offering salary-cap relief, multiple young players, including Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma, and draft picks.
Johnson and Pelicans general manager Dell Demps had multiple conversations on Monday, league sources told Wojnarowski.
"I haven't been through anything like this," Gentry said of Davis' trade demand. "You deal with it. It's out there. Everybody knows it. So you deal with it."
The NBA's trade deadline is at 3 p.m. ET Thursday.
Davis prefers a move to the Lakers, league sources told Wojnarowski.
New Orleans learned Monday of Davis' extended list of teams that he'd be willing to stay with long-term upon a trade. Those teams haven't yet made offers to New Orleans for Davis.
Davis informed the Pelicans that he wouldn't sign a five-year, $239 million supermax contract this summer.
