The Dallas Mavericks have been recommended to take radical action over Anthony Davis.
It is hard not to feel sorry for Anthony Davis. One of the best players in the NBA, he was treated by many as an afterthought in the hysteria of the Luka Doncic trade.
Davis was injured on his debut for the Dallas Mavericks and has been out ever since. The team were criticized for rushing him back to action from a previous injury.
The season ending injury to Kyrie Irving has changed the outlook in Dallas. The team have been urged to shut it down and tank, while also preserving Davis for next season to lead the team fully healthy in 2025-26.
But there could be a more dramatic move ahead for the Mavericks regarding Anthony Davis.
One extreme option the Dallas Mavericks could go down would be to trade away Anthony Davis and completely reshape their team, again.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps believes this is the right call to make, explaining to The Hoop Collective that the team should give up on their current plan.
He said: “I’m going to be honest, I don’t think Anthony Davis should ever play for the Mavericks again, you shouldn’t play him the rest of the season, and they should trade him this summer.
“Nico Harrison talked about they’re having a three or four year window with this group that included this season. Okay? Kyrie Irving is going to be a 33 year old guard with a catastrophic knee injury, with a player option for next season. You basically have to write him off being a major contributor for next season.
“You have to assume, if you’re running the franchise, he’s not going to do that. At that point, Anthony Davis will have one year guaranteed, he’s going to be approaching his [34th] birthday. This team has really no ability to defend as it stands now, without a proper star next to Anthony Davis.”
Later on in the discussion, Bontemps doubled down on his point, recommending the Mavericks take drastic action to salvage their suddenly bleak future.
“Anthony Davis should not be on the roster next season. Where are you going with into his mid-30s Anthony Davis?
“The situation is bad, so fast, that the correct thing for them to do is to do that [trade Davis].”
A decision over Anthony Davis’ long-term future is not ready to take place yet, but the Mavericks are due to hold talks and plot out a plan for the rest of 2024-25, amid their remarkable run of bad luck.
Shams Charania told The Pat McAfee Show on March 4: “I think him, his representatives are gonna huddle up, they’re gonna have some very hard conversations.
“It’s not out of the realm of possibility that one game was the last time we’ve seen AD this season.”
Michael Wilbon believes Davis should be shut down, describing it as going the ‘Joel Embiid route’, following the 76ers.
Anthony Davis’ performance for the Mavericks against the Rockets was a promising one – until he suffered an injury.
If he was traded away in the summer after not playing this season, it would go down as one of the all-time NBA ‘what if’ moments.
