On the first day of February this year, the NBA was shaken up by one of the most stunning trades of all-time. The Dallas Mavericks, not even a year after making it to the NBA Finals, decided to overhaul their roster — trading away their star man Luka Doncic, along with longtime servant of the team Maxi Kleber, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and an unprotected first-round pick from the Purple and Gold in 2029.
That trade remains as stunning as it was when it was first announced. Many fans thought that ESPN's Shams Charania, the man who broke the news, was not in control of his social media accounts. He had to clarify that the Mavericks, indeed, had decided to trade their superstar player, who had been with the team since he came into the league in 2018, for an older and more injury-prone star.
General manager Nico Harrison had to defend the trade by saying that “defense wins championships” and that Davis gives the Mavericks a better shot at winning not just now, but in the future as well. But fast forward nine months later, and Harrison will no longer be around to reap the fruits of the risk he took (if it would even bear any). The Mavs have decided to can Harrison, removing him from his post as general manager.
The bill came due for Harrison; will the same come for Davis, who might end up being shopped on the trade market now that his primary backer in the front office is gone?
Nonetheless, here are a few reasons as to why the Mavericks should not pull the trigger on a Davis trade just yet even though there's been a changing of the guard in the team's brain trust.
Trading Anthony Davis now would be selling low
No one can ever question Davis' impact on the court when healthy. He is one of the most versatile big men in the NBA, and one of the most fiercest rim protectors in the league. He is adept at every single kind of defensive coverage, and even now that he's 32 years of age, his presence guarantees a top-half finish in defense in the association.
But the more Davis has gotten older, the more he becomes an injury risk. This was what made the Mavericks' decision to go out of their way to pursue him and dangle Doncic in exchange for him that much more asinine. Davis did play 76 games during the 2023-24 season, but he has missed at least 26 games in five of the past seven seasons.
It's not like Davis has a chronic issue somewhere in his body. His style of play (bruising) simply lends him far more vulnerable to such knocks. What was so unfortunate for the Mavericks is that he suffered a groin injury early on in his stint with the team back in February, and to start the 2025-26 campaign, he's been dealing with a calf injury.
Davis should have a few suitors on the trade market should he be made available. He has at least two years remaining on his deal (with an option for the 2027-28 season worth $62.8 million), and any team looking for a frontcourt boost could use the 10-time All-Star without fear of losing him immediately in free agency.
But considering how much he's making and considering his injury-proneness, the market for him will be very limited. It's hard to single out what team would go all out to trade for Davis. Could the nascent Blazers decide to push all their chips to the table? Will the star-starved Bulls be aggressive in pursuing Davis? Maybe the Pistons would want to cement themselves as the team to beat in the East.
But acquiring Davis would require a significant commitment from those teams that such a trade is difficult to pull off in the middle of the season. Moreover, it's not like the Mavericks can get anything close to the value they gave up just to acquire the 10-time All-Star.
Simply put, the idea of a Davis trade should be tabled for the rest of the season. Keeping him in town at least until the end of the 2025-26 campaign should give the Mavericks a clearer sense of direction moving forward — and an idea of whether or not keeping Davis actually makes a modicum of sense.
This current Mavericks core hasn't gotten a fair shot
This is not to say that Harrison was onto something when he traded Doncic away for Davis — not even close. That remains the most stupid decision in professional sports history. But this Mavericks franchise has yet to see what the team is capable of when they're at full strength.
When they'll be at full strength remains to be seen. Kyrie Irving won't be back until January at the earliest, and even then, he'll be subject to some workload restrictions considering his age (33 years of age, turning 34 in March) and lengthy absence due to an ACL tear.
But a starting lineup of Irving, Davis, Cooper Flagg, PJ Washington, and Max Christie does not sound too bad. Head coach Jason Kidd could even slot Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford in place of Washington if they need more size in the frontcourt.
They should at least give this core a go. If they cannot stay healthy or fail to compete in the West, then that's when they pull the plug.
Letting go of Davis would be an admission of defeat
Firing Harrison was basically already an admission that they did mess up with the Doncic trade. But giving up on the main piece they got for their former franchise star would simply add even more insult to injury.
Davis, of course, is a brilliant two-way player when healthy. He's not the caliber of player Doncic is, but he's not too bad of a player to build around. Shopping him in the aftermath of Harrison's firing will simply make the optics of the trade that much worse, if that's even possible.
