NBA Expert Marc Stein On The Raptors’ And Hawks’ Interest In Anthony Davis

NBA Expert Marc Stein On The Raptors’ And Hawks’ Interest In Anthony Davis

style up the Stein line with our national NBA insider. You can always do so on X at the Stein Line. Let’s get into it because Jason Kid said Anthony Davis questionable again with the left calf contusion, the same calf that of course he had the um the issue with that caused him to miss 14 uh straight games. So, let’s just start there as a Mavs ready to take on the Pistons tomorrow night. >> Yeah, I it’s obviously not good news. I mean, we’ve all said it that the Mavs were hoping that once Anthony Davis returned from a 14game absence that they could get a sustained 6 to 8 weeks of good play from him. But you know what? I’m I’m just I’m not sure the offers are going to be anywhere close to what the Mavs would hope for at this trade deadline. And there are a lot of competing factors here for the Mavs to weigh. The way a source laid it out to me was like, you don’t just trade AD for the sake of trading him. Like the trade that landed him here is already the most controversial, polarizing, pick your ad adjective trade, not just in franchise history, maybe in league history. You don’t just turn around now and trade AD for whatever the best return is between now and February 5th. And look, I know there are risks. If he stays on the team past the deadline, there is the risk of further injury. There’s the question about how that will impact the Mavs in terms of how they finish the season. We know that it would be best for them realistically to be in the lottery again. How can you end up in the lottery if you have AD all season and Kyrie Irving coming back in 2026? I realize that all of these are clashing priorities and there is no obvious let’s go let’s follow path A or let’s even follow path B. There is no clear-cut thing. But to me trading Anthony Davis for a very subpar return. I just don’t like the sound of that on any level. I just don’t I I don’t have the answers to the other parts of this. like the Mavs somehow it’s it is a very difficult needle to thread but somehow they have to get a quote good return for AD however we’re going to classify good and somehow end up in the lottery that is the ideal two-prong scenario >> so let me ask you this then what is your best read or sense on what the Mavericks believe a good return would be for Anthony Davis >> I’m not sure they’ve pinpointed it exactly I would imagine and again this is see the the problem is if I say it that it’s like Stein says I you know I truly don’t have a firm lasered in handle on it but can you get is there any scenario that you get multiple picks multiple firsts how good are those firsts I don’t know I don’t know if that’s going to be out there for them I really don’t you’re obviously not going to get anything close to what was surrendered in the trade that landed in here. But just let’s just let’s just use the the Atlanta example that everybody loves to throw out there. And look, even even Porzingis’s expiring contract does not come close to 80s number. There would have to be other contracts in there. But let’s say the Hawks made a hypothetical offer that is focused on Porzingis’s expiring deal. And let’s just say it’s two first, but they’re they’re they’re bad firsts. Like, is that enough for you? cap relief. >> I would like I would be sad about that. That’s I I I wouldn’t be enraged, but I wouldn’t I would not be like, “Oh, yeah, and high-fiving all my friends.” You know what I mean? >> Yeah. >> Like, eh, the Hawks have some wonderful wonderfully attractive players and draft picks in their cupboard. You’re not getting any of that. They’re just, you’re not. So, we don’t know yet what the Mavs would classify as good. All what we do know is the offers to this point have have not been close to attractive. Does that change between now and February 5th? Of course, like we always say, February 5th is both creeping up on us quickly, but it’s also still 6 weeksish away. So, the market can change fast. You know, we wrote about this on my Substack yesterday. Jake wrote this and you know it’s it was a very good line that you know last December the Heat Pat Riley was putting out statements saying we will not trade Jimmy Butler and the Warriors were not mentioned as a Jimmy Butler team and what happened a month later Jimmy Butler was a Warrior. So things can change fast in January, but just this just trade ad no matter what discussion like I I that that approach that thinking just boggles my mind. >> So to be clear because I want to ask for clarification because you said something that piqu my interest. Have there have been offers for Anthony Davis? >> I mean dis discussions is a better way to term it. I mean, there’s there’s certainly interest. Toronto has definitely registered interest. That is that is for certain. The Hawks, I think it is more exploratory is probably a better way to discuss it. And I think Detroit’s interest has been vastly overstated, although it would really be entertaining if AD can play in this Detroit game. And and he put up a 30 and 20 against the Pistons. The media noise after a game like that would be fun and interesting. I mean, it would be it would liven things up. I still don’t think Detroit’s going to make a play for him. All the messaging out of Detroit has been they want to stay on their conservative, patient path. It’s the approach they’ve maintained to this point. And remember, too, not only is there wisdom for the Pistons in being patient and letting this thing continue to grow organically, you know, Jaylen Duran and Assar Thompson are two young players they really, really like, and they’re going to have to resign those guys. So trading for Anthony Davis and a salary that’s in excess of 50 million would complicate a lot of stuff happening in Detroit. >> One of my questions is because just this kind of just been the feeling I’m just reading a lot of stuff from Jake yourself and a bunch of other insiders. It it feels like if a team trade for Anthony Davis is going to be a team that’s not a quote unquote younger built team like a team that Wimi isn’t your star Kate Cunningham. It’s going to be a team where maybe your star is BAM a player that’s maybe on his second or third deal in the league. Toronto with Brandon Ingram and uh Quickly and and you know a bunch of players like that. It seems like those are the teams that likely are gonna come after Anthony Davis. Do you get a feel that a team an older team quotequote and a team with maybe a 26 or older star or is more likely to come after Davis in a young squad? Yeah, I don’t know about age precisely, but I mean, if you’re trading for Anthony Davis, it’s because you think, you know, it all the talk has been the East is so wide open. And it’s funny, our our old friend Jaylen Brunson keeps pushing back against that. But look, Toronto, you know, the the Raptors were aggressive. They traded for Brandon Ingram last year when they were nowhere near >> win now. But, you know, you you could also see that the Raptors thought they were getting Ingram at somewhat of a discount because he had had a lot of injury issues to that point. And if you remember, the Raptors traded for Ingram and extended Ingram. He didn’t play a game for them until this season. I mean, he did not play a game for the Raptors after the trade deadline. So, I think the Raptors felt like they were able to acquire Ingram at a favorable price point. And I just, you know, again, the the Mav the position the Mavs are in is is not enviable. But let’s also not forget a lot of this is of their own making. They put themselves in this position. But the reality is, if it’s me, I just I like the idea of being a little bit more patient, delaying the Anthony Davis decision until the off season and then you But can you still end they they got to end up in the lottery somehow? I I know what I’m saying is not it’s not easy, but yeah, I mean, can the MA the Mavs they got to end up in the lottery somehow? They got to stay in the lottery just to give themselves a chance of getting getting lucky again. And realistically, can they count on getting lucky again? They certainly can’t count on it. You can certainly argue that they used up [clears throat] a lot of luck to win last May’s lottery and get Cooper flag. But if I could sketch out what would be the ideal scenario is keep AD unless again unless the offers change unless there is a package that emerges between now and Feb 5 that is actually palatable. I don’t think anything even discussed in an exploratory fashion to this point has been palatable.

Marc Stein provides updates on Anthony Davis’ trade market, including teams like the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks that have reportedly shown interest in the big man, and discusses the widely suggested Kristaps Porzingis trade possibility.

#anthonydavis #dallasmavs #nba #atlantahawks #torontoraptors #kristapsporzingis