The San Antonio Spurs are sitting at 26-11, second in the West, and they look like a real problem instead of “fun future team” earlier than expected. Their team metrics say it too, they’re scoring 119.0 points per game and giving up 113.3, that’s contender math.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks are 14-24 and buried in 11th. Their whole season has felt like they’re stuck between “try to win” and “this is clearly Cooper Flagg’s franchise now,” with trade speculation for every veteran on the team.
That’s why Anthony Davis is back in rumors again, with reporting connecting him to the Hawks and, most recently, to the Raptors, while even the Warriors are getting mentioned as a team that could at least sniff around.
And yes, the timing is brutal because Davis just popped up with a left-hand injury in the Jazz game, which is exactly the kind of “of course” moment that makes teams hesitate.
Teams love the idea of Davis, but they don’t love the price, especially with the injury reminder and the contract size. A lot of front offices want to poke around without actually putting serious assets on the table.
That’s where the Spurs get interesting. This is the kind of aggressive offer that could actually move the needle. And if it lands, you’re talking about pairing Anthony Davis with Victor Wembanyama, which might be the nastiest defensive frontcourt in the league overnight.
The Proposed Trade
San Antonio Spurs Receive: Anthony Davis
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, 2027 first-round pick (via ATL), 2028 first-round pick (BOS swap rights), 2030 first-round pick (DAL swap rights), 2028 second-round pick
This is the kind of “massive but clean” deal that actually matches both timelines. The Spurs go star-hunting to supercharge the Wembanyama era right now. The Mavs get younger, deeper, and they finally stack real draft leverage instead of praying the market saves them.
Salary-wise, it’s not fantasy either. Davis is at $54.1 million this season, while Devin Vassell ($27.0 million), Keldon Johnson ($17.5 million), and Julian Champagnie ($3.0 million) get you into the workable range for matching rules at $47.5 million combined.
Why This Is Great For The Spurs
This is the simplest way to say it: the Spurs already win like a contender, but they still don’t have a second frontcourt monster that teams fear in a playoff series.
Victor Wembanyama is putting up 24.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists with 2.9 blocks, and he’s doing it on 52.1% from the field and 36.2% from three. That’s insane, but it also comes with a reality: teams will spend an entire seven-game series trying to turn every Spurs possession into “make someone else beat us.”
Anthony Davis is literally built to punish that.
Even in a “messy” year for the Mavs, Davis is still at 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 blocks, and he’s shooting 50.6% from the field. So if you’re the Spurs, you’re not trading for a washed name. You’re trading for a walking playoff problem who turns the paint into a no-fly zone and gives you a second guy who can finish possessions when the game slows down.
The fit is nasty in the ways that matter in May.
Offensively, you can play through Wemby at the elbow, throw Davis into the dunker spot, and now every help decision is painful. If teams send extra bodies at Wemby, Davis eats in the gaps. If teams stay home, Wemby has the space to cook. And if teams try to switch everything, Davis still gives you a release valve because he can score over smaller defenders and punish single coverage at the rim.
Defensively, it gets even louder. Wemby already changes the geometry of the court by himself. Add Davis, and it becomes one of those defenses where guards start second-guessing layups in the first quarter. You can switch more. You can trap more. You can recover from mistakes without it turning into four-on-three panic. And most importantly, you can survive the “hunt the guard” stuff in the playoffs because your back line has two erasers instead of one.
This is also the Spurs finally cashing in on the moment. They’re 26-11 and second in the West right now. You don’t play that well and then act like you’re still two years away. The whole point of being ahead of schedule is that you get to do unfair things earlier than everyone expected.
And I get it, giving up Devin Vassell hurts. He’s at 15.0 points a night and hitting 37.9% from three. But that’s also why this works: the Spurs are dealing from a position of strength. They still have Wemby as the franchise sun. They still have their ecosystem. And Keldon Johnson has turned into an efficiency monster off the bench, 13.5 points and 6.4 rebounds on 57.4% from the field and 42.1% from three, with a 67.1% true shooting. You can replace wing scoring in a lot of ways. You can’t replace “two elite rim protectors who can also score” with a cute development plan.
If Davis is healthy, this is the kind of move that makes the Spurs feel like a top-tier title threat immediately, not “spooky.” And that’s the whole point of pairing a unicorn with another star: you’re trying to end games, not win the vibes.
Why The Mavs Would Do This Instantly
This is the kind of offer the Mavericks don’t overthink because it solves the real problem: direction. When you’re living in the weird middle ground, trying to compete while also knowing the next era is already forming, the worst thing you can do is drag your feet and end up with nothing but a couple “almost” seasons to show for it.
Anthony Davis is still a monster, but the Mavericks can’t build their entire identity around a player who comes with constant health anxiety, massive money, and a timeline that doesn’t perfectly line up with where the roster is headed.
Even when he’s great, you’re always one awkward fall away from the plan collapsing. That’s not hate, that’s just the reality of trying to run a franchise like a business instead of a highlight reel.
This package gives them something way more valuable than a single star: it gives them a clean foundation.
Start with Devin Vassell. He’s 24, he fits the next era, and he’s exactly the kind of two-way wing every team spends years trying to find. He can score without being spoon-fed, he can hit threes, and he can defend at a level that lets you actually build lineups with real size and switchability. More importantly, he’s not a “temporary fix” player. He’s the type of piece you can keep for years and still feel good about it when the roster evolves.
Then you add Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie, and that’s where the offer starts looking unfair in a practical way. The Mavericks haven’t just needed stars, they’ve needed reliable NBA bodies who can survive a playoff-style game.
Keldon gives you real physicality and punch, he’s the kind of guy who can swing a quarter with energy and downhill pressure. Champagnie gives you a real wing rotation piece who can play within a system, hit open shots, and soak minutes without everything falling apart. You’re not just replacing Davis, you’re building an actual eight-to-nine-man rotation that makes sense.
Now the picks. This is the part that makes it an instant yes, because it turns the deal from “retool” into “control.”
The 2027 Hawks’ first is a real external first. That’s not your own pick that you’re praying becomes valuable; it’s a separate asset that can pop at the right time. Then you’ve got the 2028 Celtics swap rights and the 2030 Mavericks swap rights. Swaps are the sneaky best currency in the league for a team that wants optionality. If things go sideways in one of those seasons, you’re protected. If another team slips, you get rewarded. And if everything goes well, you still didn’t mortgage your future.
Add in the Spurs’ own 2028 second-round pick and you’ve got the final sweetener, the type of extra chip that can become a rotation guy, a trade sweetener later, or just another swing in a draft-heavy build.
Put it together and this isn’t just a Davis trade. It’s a reset that doesn’t feel like a teardown. You get younger, you get deeper, you get more flexible, and you get the exact kind of perimeter talent that modern teams need to build around a new franchise centerpiece.
That’s what “instantly accept” means. Not because Davis isn’t worth a haul, he is. It’s because this haul actually matches what the Mavericks should want right now: long-term wings, functional depth, and draft leverage that lets them dictate the next two to five years instead of reacting to them.
Final Thoughts
If the Spurs want to go from “awesome story” to “Finals team everyone hates playing,” this is the kind of swing you take. Wemby plus Davis is a defensive nightmare, and it turns every playoff series into a paint war the Spurs are built to win.
And if you’re the Mavs, you do this because it’s the first trade that makes the franchise make sense: Flagg gets real wing help, the rotation gets deeper, and the draft chest finally looks like something you can build with.
It’s a big move. It’s also the kind of move that ends up looking obvious six months later.
