The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world in February by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Mavs acquired Anthony Davis, Max Christie and one first-round pick in return. Davis suffered an injury in his first game with Dallas following the trade. He later returned and ultimately appeared in a total of nine regular season contests with the Mavs. However, Davis' statistics declined in those games.

Should the Mavs be worried about a potential AD decline moving forward, or was his drop in production simply a product of adjusting to a new team while recovering from an injury?

Anthony Davis' brief 2024-25 stint with Mavericks

Davis was on a minutes restriction after he returned from his injury. As a result, his statistics such as points and rebounds per game saw a decrease. That was not surprising given the circumstances, though.

AD's defense remained fairly consistent. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison's viral “defense wins championships” comments have been a talking point since the trade, and Davis certainly defends at a high level.

The only potentially concerning statistics stem from Davis' shooting efficiency. In 42 games with the Lakers before the trade, AD shot 52.8 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from deep. In his nine games with the Mavs following the trade, he shot just 46.1 percent on his field goal attempts and 23.3 percent from beyond the arc.

At times, it seemed rather evident that Davis was still adjusting to a new offense. Other times, though, Davis completely took over and played well. AD enjoyed some of his best moments in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

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Davis will now have a full offseason to study the Mavericks' offensive schemes and make the complete adjustment to playing with his new team.

Is there reason for concern?

Mavs fans were frustrated after learning of the Doncic trade. They don't have any reason to worry about Davis' play moving forward, though. The only concern with Davis is his injury history.

As long as Anthony Davis can find a way to stay healthy, his overall numbers should begin to trend in a positive direction. In fact, they may even be better with the Mavs in 2025-26 than with the Lakers since AD will be the unquestioned go-to player on the team. Even when Kyrie Irving returns (potentially in January) Davis will remain a top scoring option.

To answer the aforementioned question, there is no reason for concern about Anthony Davis' performance on the floor.