After trading away Trae Young and clearing off cap space, the Hawks are believed to be the primary suitors in a trade for Anthony Davis. However, the biggest hurdle before the Mavericks make any major move is that their owner, Patrick Dumont, wants to see Davis play alongside Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg together.
Until last month, several experts believed that Kyrie Irving could return before the All-Star break, possibly as early as the February 5th trade deadline. But, ESPN insider Tim McMahon threw water on that timeline on the latest episode of his show, ‘Howdy Partners,’ with Michael C. Wright.
“With Patrick Dumont in that decision-making seat, what he wants to see is the core trio, and that’s Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and Cooper Flag together before making any major decisions,” explained McMahon.
“Now, the problem with that, Mike, based on what I’m hearing, Kyrie’s not coming back before the trade deadline. And if he does, even if he did, it would be a tiny, tiny sample size. So, you’re not going to have that luxury of that evaluation period before one major decision needs to be made,” McMahon further added.
“And whether that’s trade him or don’t trade him, either way, it is a major decision. I don’t know at this point if Kyrie’s playing this season. I know he wants to. We’ll see if that’s in his best interest. We’ll see if it’s in the franchise’s best interest. Those are things that need to be sorted out.”
“But again, Patrick Dumont’s preference would be before there’s a major decision made, whether that’s a trade, whether that’s an extension, let’s see this core trio together. I’m not sure that that’s a reality,” said McMahon in conclusion on Kyrie before discussing potential landing spots for Anthony Davis.
Amid the Rockets’ need for a solid point guard and the looming trade rumors over Anthony Davis’ future, the Mavericks have a lot of major decisions to make this season.
While Flagg is playing like a Rookie of the Year frontrunner, the fingers have mainly been pointed at Anthony Davis as the potential problem in Dallas.
The Mavericks are currently 10-9 in games that Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg have played together. Davis has averaged 20.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in those 19 games while shooting 50.6% from the field.
Meanwhile, Flagg is averaging 18.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in those 19 games while shooting 48.7% from the floor. Clearly, the two forwards need a point guard to handle the ball while they make moves inside the paint.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see if they trade Davis before the trade deadline now, or the front office forces him to wait a few months for a trade, as they haven’t seen the team’s performance with Kyrie Irving at full strength.
What do you think will be the result of this situation in Dallas? Let us know in the comments section.
