Let’s set up a hypothetical situation. David Griffin is not able to get Anthony Davis to commit long-term with the New Orleans Pelicans (likely). However, the trade offers he gets during the summer are a bit underwhelming (possible), so Griffin decides to keep AD into the 2019-2020 season and wait for more trade offers to roll in as the year progresses.
If this were to happen, Griffin would eventually reach a monumentally important crossroads; move Anthony Davis by the 2020 trade deadline in February, or lose him for nothing in the summer. Clearly, it would be in the Pelicans’ best interest for Griffin to take whatever he could get at that point so late in the game.