Many questions were raised when the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the LA Lakers, receiving Anthony Davis in exchange.
Davis missed his last few Lakers games through injury, despite shining in his Mavericks debut with 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks in 31 minutes he was taken off with 1:37 left in the third.
The center appeared to pick up the injury defending Houston Rockets Alperen Sengun’s dunk.
According to Dr. Evan Jeffries, Davis might have sustained a Grade II strain which could sideline the star for four to six weeks.
The Mavericks have now been dealt a further blow by former NBA star Danny Green who has spoken out about Davis’ injury.
The LA Lakers fans were quick to point out that they understood the frustrations of the Mavericks following the injury news, Davis has struggled with injuries throughout his career.
Brian Windhorst quickly questioned the Mavericks’ decision to play Davis who has only just recovered from an abdominal strain.
Davis has wasted no time in fitting in off the court in Dallas, he’s already called out the social media admin for missing one of his NBA All-Star appearances.
His recent injury will of course now rule him out of the All-Star weekend where he was set to make his 11th appearance.
The injury news for Davis will put further pressure on Mavericks GM, Nico Harrison, who was crucial in making the Doncic deal happen.
Former NBA star Green has warned that the Davis injury is not an easy one to come back quickly from, he told Fan Duel’s Run It Back: “I had a similar situation, I hope it’s just an abductor strain and not something more as this can trickle down to the groin, this can trickle down to something else. I had it and it takes a long time to come back.
“I was not a very athletic person before but after a lot less shot blocking I wasn’t as athletic so hopefully he takes care of this the right way and it doesn’t become more than what it is. Hopefully, it won’t hinder him from getting to the rim but I’m hoping this is a situation that is not more serious than a strain.”
Doncic received a lot of comments about his fitness as he left the Mavericks, it seemed to be an agenda they were going with to highlight their reason for moving on.
The Mavericks were worried that they may have a Joel Embiid case on their hands, yet they’ve traded for Davis who has averaged just 54 games per season over his Lakers career.
Taking out this season Doncic has averaged 66.6 games per season for the Mavericks, it questions what Dallas was thinking.
Former NBA star Chandler Parsons was also quick to question the Mavericks’ decision, saying: “If you look at both of these guys there’s been more question and concern on AD’s health than Luka’s. That’s why I never really understood this narrative about Luka being out of shape or not available.
“He plays more than Anthony Davis and he’s six years younger, so the whole justifying of that never really made sense to me.”
The Mavericks will be hoping to get the very best version of Davis back when he recovers from his injury, they will certainly need him fit for their playoff push.
