The Dallas Mavericks were in the NBA Finals not too long ago in 2024, but they now look set to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Mavericks are 12th in the West with a 14-25 record, and to make matters worse, they also have five players making about $92 million combined this season, who are almost untradeable.
Anthony Davis: $54.1 million
Klay Thompson: $16.7 million
Caleb Martin: $9.6 million
Jaden Hardy: $6 million
D’Angelo Russell: $5.7 million
It’s staggering how just under a year after the Mavericks acquired Anthony Davis from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the stunning Luka Doncic trade, we are calling him nearly untradeable. The 10-time All-Star was the biggest asset they got for a generational talent in Doncic, and they are now going to struggle to find suitors for him. The reason? Injuries, of course.
Davis has played 29 regular-season games since he became a Maverick in February 2025. He has suffered 18 injuries during his time with the team. Most recently, Davis suffered ligament damage in his left hand. He might require surgery that would sideline him for several months.
The Mavericks reportedly had been looking to trade Davis for a while now, but no deal even seemed close to getting over the line. NBA insider Jake Fischer stated before this latest injury that there were only two teams interested in the 32-year-old: the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors. The prospect of Davis now missing months might well have scared them off as well.
We get to Klay Thompson next, and injuries aren’t why he finds himself on this list. Thompson’s play on the court is what makes it difficult to ship him out of town.
Thompson is averaging 11.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in 2025-26 while shooting 37.3% from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc. Outside shooting had been his biggest strength over the years, but those threes aren’t falling at a good enough clip now.
Still, teams would have been willing to take a shot and bring in Thompson if not for that contract. The 35-year-old is owed $17.4 million next season as well. No contending team in this apron era would want Thompson on their books at that number when he’s producing at this level.
While Thompson has at least put up solid numbers, the same can’t really be said about Caleb Martin. Martin is averaging 1.8 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in 2025-26. The 30-year-old has gotten some more playing time lately due to injuries, but hasn’t done much of note.
Former Mavericks GM Nico Harrison will forever remain a disliked figure in Dallas for trading Doncic, but all the attention on that move led to another bad one going somewhat under the radar. Harrison sent Quentin Grimes and a second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for Martin, days after that trade with the Lakers.
Grimes went on to average an impressive 21.4 points per game for the 76ers last season. The scoring average has dropped to 14.4 points per game in this campaign, but he is still far more productive than Martin.
If you’re wondering why Harrison made this move, it was probably because the Mavericks didn’t want to pay Grimes last summer. While trading away a player who was entering restricted free agency in a few months makes sense, the return looked terrible then and looks terrible now. Martin also has a $9.3 million player option for 2027-28, so he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Jaden Hardy is next, and he might be the most tradeable of this lot. Hardy is averaging 6.1 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in 2025-26. The 23-year-0ld is currently in the first year of a three-year, $16 million deal.
Hardy isn’t exactly pulling up trees, but has some upside and is on a decent contract. You’d imagine the Mavericks won’t get much for him if they do part ways, though.
Lastly, we get to D’Angelo Russell, whom the Mavericks signed to a two-year deal this past offseason. With Kyrie Irving recovering from a torn ACL, the hope was that Russell would be able to make up for his absence, to an extent. Things haven’t gone according to plan, though.
Russell is averaging 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game in 2025-26 while shooting 40.5% from the field and 29.5% from beyond the arc. Both Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard are getting more minutes than him, which says it all. You’d struggle to find any team willing to acquire Russell at this point.
In all, this is a very rough situation. It’s incredible how the Mavericks have gone from title contenders to a bit of a laughing stock now. If they hadn’t won the draft lottery in 2025 and gotten Cooper Flagg, we’d be looking at them as a complete disaster.
