The Dallas Mavericks shocked the basketball world by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February. The Mavericks got a package centered around Anthony Davis in the deal, but they’re now being urged to part with him. Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale named them as a team that should trade its best player.
“Building around [Cooper Flagg] should be the Mavs’ top priority. Plopping him into a situation where, as of now, they need him to be no worse than the co-lead ball-handler of a team the C-Suite fancies a contender runs in stark contrast to that—and likely the reality of Dallas’ position inside the Western Conference.”
Favale recognizes that the Mavericks will be pretty good despite Kyrie Irving being out with an ACL tear. He added, though, that most of the players on the roster are either in their primes or entering the back end, and the focus should be on building a team around Flagg, who is set to be selected with the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
“It makes more sense for Dallas to trade Davis for a future-focused package teeming with picks and prospects and enter the rebuilding phase they should have initiated when shipping out Doncic.”
While entering a rebuild and building a team that fits Flagg’s timeline would be a good idea on paper, that might not be the best course of action for the Mavericks. They do not control their draft picks from 2027 to 2030, having parted with that to build the team that made the NBA Finals last year.
If the Mavericks can regain control of those picks by trading away Davis, then perhaps this idea would make sense. Will they do this, though? It seems unlikely.
Davis was the big prize that Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison coveted in a Doncic trade. Harrison wanted the big man as the anchor for the defense, and it’s hard to see him being shipped out of town this soon.
While Harrison defended the decision to trade Doncic by pointing to Davis’ greatness, it wasn’t long before the biggest problem with acquiring him surfaced. The 32-year-old, who has an injury history, suffered an adductor strain on his Mavericks debut. He would spend almost two months on the sidelines due to it.
Davis would end up featuring just nine times in the regular season for the Mavericks in 2024-25, averaging 20.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game. Despite the 10-time All-Star not quite being at his best, the team was 6-3 when he played.
That shows Davis’ value even when he’s a bit hampered. He remains one of the more impactful players in the NBA, and that’s why he would fetch a significant haul if the Mavericks chose to trade him, as Favale suggested they should.
While Davis is still unlikely to be on his way out of Dallas, a teammate of his could be on the move. The Mavericks are set to re-sign Daniel Gafford to a three-year, $54 million deal, and you might assume that means no trade for six months. The value of that contract, though, means he can be traded right away. Will the Mavericks move the Gafford? Well, time will tell.
