The Dallas Mavericks no longer have one of the greatest players in the NBA today in Luka Doncic, but their minority owner, Mark Cuban, believes they have something else that’s best in class. During an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show, Cuban stated the Mavericks have the best Big 3 in the NBA.
“You know the truth is between [Anthony Davis], Dereck Lively, and [Daniel] Gafford, that’s the best Big 3 in the NBA,” Cuban said. “But Luka Doncic is a generational talent.”
Cuban didn’t mean to say the Mavericks have the best trio in the NBA. He reckons they have the best collection of bigs in the league, and they might.
Anthony Davis has averaged 25.0 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game for the Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers in 2024-25. Davis had openly stated for years that he wanted to play at the power forward and not at center, and that wish has become a reality on his new team, thanks to the presence of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II.
Gafford has put up 12.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game this season. As for Lively, he has averaged 9.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game.
We are yet to see this trio of bigs at their best, as they have all missed time with injuries for the Mavericks this season. Davis has played just six games since the trade, while Gafford and Lively have featured in 54 and 33 games, respectively, this season.
You’d expect the Mavericks to cause teams plenty of headaches in 2025-26, should the injury bug stay away from Davis, Gafford, and Lively. That said, opposing teams would likely have had a bigger headache if they had to deal with Doncic.
What would you rather have? The best frontcourt in the NBA, or a pretty good one with Doncic? Most would go with the second option.
Doncic is averaging 27.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2024-25. He hasn’t always been at his best, but the Lakers have looked unstoppable when he’s had it going.
As Cuban stated, Doncic is a generational talent. You try to hold on to a player like him for as long as possible, but the Mavericks decided to ship him out of town of their own volition.
Cuban previously made it clear the Mavericks would never have traded Doncic if he had any influence. He sold his majority stake to the Adelson and Dumont families in December 2023, and Mavericks fans wish that had never happened.
Cuban also felt the Mavericks did not get a good enough return for Doncic. They had received Davis, Max Christie, and the Lakers’ 2029 first-round pick for the Slovenian. Cuban reckons if they had gotten four picks, then it would have been a different conversation.
More picks would have lessened the blow a bit, but this would still have been looked at as a bad trade. As great as Davis is, he is a big man in his 30s with an injury history. He has already missed time this season, and you certainly wouldn’t be surprised if he has a spell on the sidelines in the next one as well.
