Since the Dallas Mavericks fired Nico Harrison, rumors have begun to circulate about the Mavs potentially trading Anthony Davis. After all, it was Nico who wanted Davis to be the centrepiece of his “Defense wins championships” battle cry.
However, Bill Simmons says that if it were up to him, he would not entertain trade calls for AD just yet, because he wants to see more of what he can do on the court when paired with the 2025 top rookie, Cooper Flagg.
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“There’s been a lot of AD stuff, and I know there’s a lot of trade possibilities for him. I’m not trading Anthony Davis right now. I’m keeping him. Flagg and Davis together, I need to see this more. I’m hanging up on all calls. I just want to watch this for another month because they had too many big buys. They were playing Flagg out of position. They did him a real disservice. But now, he’s in his right spot, where he’s like a four, and now you have Gafford coming off the bench as like one more big man,” explained Simmons.
The Mavs have looked better recently
Dallas began the season with a big lineup where Flagg was forced by head coach Jason Kidd to start at point guard. That experiment failed and after heavy backlash, Kidd finally put his prized rookie back in his natural position. After struggling with his numbers to start the season, Flagg has turned it around and is coming off winning Rookie of the Month honors.
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Meanwhile, Davis has played only 10 games so far this season due to injuries. The Mavs are 5-5 in those games. However, if you take a look at net rating, the Mavs are a -8.9 points per 100 possessions in the 214:15 minutes that AD and Coop have been together on the court this season. With conflicting results, it’s no wonder Simmons wants to see more before he decides to deal Davis.
“But basically, you have a lot of Flagg and AD together. That’s like a winnable combo as my four, five. I think that’s really hard to deal with, really hard to deal with defensively. It’s great for Flagg. I’m not fu—n’ with that,” added Simmons.
The Mavs want to win
Last month, it was reported that after Harrison’s ouster, the Mavs’ GM duties would be shared by Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi. The team also revealed that Mark Cuban is back at the table, though not a decision-maker, but as a consultant.
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And in one of his first interviews since returning to the saddle, he said they aren’t trading Davis because they want to win this season. Davis also echoed this desire to win, back when they were 5-15.
“We’re still playing basketball, we’re trying to compete,” Davis said. “We are competing, we’re playing for each other, and we’re playing together. I remember when Brooklyn started 5-20 and ended up at the four seed. I’m not saying we’re comparing ourselves to that or that we’re going to start 5-20, but we just have to keep competing. There were just a couple of plays here and there that hurt us, but we can’t complain; we keep fighting. I feel like we’re right there.”
Since then, Dallas has been 4-1, with their loss coming at the hands of the OKC Thunder. In their most recent game, the Mavs toppled KD and the Rockets 122-109. Flagg is also averaging 20.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in his last nine games played, so yeah, with the team and the top rookie cooking now, it would be prudent to keep AD, at least for the meantime.
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Related: $31 Million Mansion: Inside the L.A. luxury Anthony Davis bought after his Lakers title
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 8, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.