Opinion: All eyes on Magic Johnson as deadline for Lakers to trade for Anthony Davis looms

LOS ANGELES — For all the nonsense and chatter and egos involved, whether the Los Angeles Lakers will land Anthony Davis boils down to one question.

Do you believe in Magic?

The early part of the process of taking Davis from New Orleans was all about the Lakers, Davis and his agent toying with the minds of the Pelicans.

Now it is all about Magic Johnson trying to make magic happen in crunch time. 

Johnson is at the heart of all this, battling with all his mental might to push through what could evolve into one of the most significant trades in NBA history. Meanwhile, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps, it would seem, is doing all he can to mess with Johnson in return. Either because he feels slighted by the way the Lakers, LeBron James and his own star player have done their business, because he wants extra leverage, or both.

Now things are getting serious, and it is no time to either lose your nerve or overplay your hand.

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The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday that the Lakers had pulled the plug on trying to secure Davis’ signature, based on a leak that almost certainly came from deep inside the Staples Center. Spreading such information, or perhaps disinformation, would certainly benefit the Lakers cause, possibly prompting Demps to figure out that while tweaking L.A. is fun, he also may never see a better offer cross his desk.

Take the Lakers’ supposed disinterest with a sackful of salt. This is a deal that doesn’t have an off switch until Davis puts pen to paper for another team, although it may have a pause button that lasts until the summer.

Johnson’s early offers might have been tentative, but he certainly hasn’t held back since. According to reports, the latest offer was to ship Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac, plus two first-round draft picks and an agreement to pick up Solomon Hill’s weighty New Orleans contract on the next jet to Louisiana.

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That combo is a significant one. There are no true superstars in it, but some seriously valuable pieces, basically an entire starting five that could probably win 40 games if healthy and more than that when paired with the Pelicans’ existing standout Jrue Holiday. There would be no one left in the Lakers locker room. If it happens, bring your hightops to the next game at Staples Center. You might get called into action.

For reference, New Orleans, with Davis, is 23-31, 13th in the Western Conference, and heading nowhere.

It must have felt good for Demps to ignore the Lakers’ early calls after all the shenanigans. To remind you, those began when Davis signed with Klutch Sports last summer, continued with James saying it would be “amazing” to play with Davis in December, and escalated dramatically with agent Rich Paul declaring his client wanted out of town last Monday.

Similarly, it must have swelled Demps’ chest to rebuff the initial offers, watching the assets put forward creep steadily upward in number and value. In that sense, Demps has held his nerve so far, forcing Johnson to lay everything out a full two days before the expiration of the trade deadline. At least we assume he has laid everything out, because Demps’ demand of all those players plus between six to eight picks is so excessive that it would be folly to accept it.

So what can Johnson do now? Not much, except position himself to strike if the ball bounces back into his court and Demps comes down to something more reasonable. Demps might be tempted to wait, but the offseason offerings won’t be juicier than this. The Boston Celtics might send Jayson Tatum but it surely won’t be a blockbuster package, not after Davis’ dad said he doesn't want his son to play in Beantown.

And neither Milwaukee nor New York nor the L.A. Clippers could, would or should deliver any more than Johnson already has offered.

Demps has the choice between triumphing in the moral battle and mightily upsetting the Lakers or giving his franchise a shot at winning the larger long-term war. Johnson has the Lakers’ immediate destiny at his fingertips if he can find a way to push this through, playing the cat and mouse game well enough to get a player capable of creating an instant championship contender without sacrificing an excessive amount to do so.

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Thursday will be here before we know it and Davis has, in the past week, gone from being one of the best players in the league to by far the most talked about. Yet he is still a New Orleans Pelican.

Will that still be the case at the end of the week? Or do you believe in Magic?

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Martin Rogers on Twitter @RogersJourno.