Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis‘ name has been floating around in trade rumors for quite some time now, with the Atlanta Hawks being the team most strongly linked to him lately. The Mavericks appear willing to do a deal with the Hawks, according to NBA insider Tim MacMahon, but he made it clear on The Hoop Collective podcast that they don’t want to get Trae Young in return.
“The Mavericks would like to work out a deal to send Anthony Davis to Atlanta, but Trae Young is not going to be part of that,” McMahon said. “They want to move forward with Kyrie Irving as their point guard. You’re not going to play those two guys together.”
MacMahon is just the latest to report on the Young aspect. Chris Hayes had stated that the Hawks were looking to bring in Davis, but added that the star guard would not be involved in the deal. Hayes said that the Mavericks would likely want expiring deals, young assets, and draft capital.
Marc Stein reported that there is a growing belief that the Hawks would be willing to give up Zaccharie Risacher, the first pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, for Davis. The only assets off the table would be Jalen Johnson and the 2026 unprotected first-round pick that they got from the New Orleans Pelicans on draft night.
So, basically, the Mavericks don’t want Young, and the Hawks don’t want to give up Johnson or that valuable pick. That makes things tricky, but we did explore a mock trade for Davis that doesn’t include any of these assets.
It’s more likely, though, that a third team would have to get involved to take on Young. You’d imagine the Hawks wouldn’t want his and Davis’ huge salaries on their books, as they will be paying Johnson, Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Onyeka Okongwu about $85 million combined next season. They’d probably end up as a second apron team if they look to hold on to all of them.
The question, though, is who takes Young, who is averaging 19.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in 2025-26? The Sacramento Kings might be interested, as they are rumored to be in the market for a point guard. MacMahon said the Minnesota Timberwolves would like to upgrade at the position, but matching salaries would be a big problem, as Young is making $46 million this season.
It will be fascinating to see how things pan out on the Young front. As for Davis, the Hawks would be taking a big risk here. You’re talking about an injury-prone 32-year-old big man who is currently on the sidelines.
Davis is averaging 20.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game in 2025-26. He excels on both ends of the court when he plays, and the Hawks certainly could do with having a defender like him in their starting lineup. As is said, though, the best ability is availability.
If Davis continues to regularly miss time due to injury, as we’d unfortunately expect him to, this would go down as a bad trade by the Hawks. The Mavericks have already gotten burned by this (played 16 of 34 games this season), which would be part of why they seem willing to part ways.
