Many Dallas Mavericks fans have wanted the team to trade Anthony Davis for weeks, but the Mavericks are being proven right for keeping him with every game that they win. Dallas is currently 10-16 after starting the season 5-15 and looking like one of the worst teams in the NBA, and Davis has been extremely impactful since returning from a 14-game absence due to a calf strain.
The Mavericks look like a different team with Davis back in the lineup and Ryan Nembhard as the starting point guard, and they are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. This is due to a plethora of different reasons, with Davis’ impact on both ends of the floor being at the top of that list.
Over the last five games, Davis is averaging 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range, and he is playing some of the best basketball of his Mavs career.
The case for keeping Anthony Davis
He is moving well, playing incredible defense, and dominating inside, and now Dallas has a choice to make when it comes to keeping him or trading him. Holding onto Davis would definitely be a controversial move, but some of the reasons for keeping him make perfect sense.
The NBA trade deadline is just 53 days away (February 5), and the Mavs’ choice with Davis and his future will be at the front of news cycles until it passes. The Mavericks will soon have to decide on the direction of the franchise, and the decision that they make on Davis will be a clear reflection of their vision.
Davis has been in trade rumors since Dallas fired Nico Harrison last month, and a case can be made for why the Mavericks should move on. Dallas doesn’t have full control of any of their first-round picks after this year until 2031, and some believe that it should trade Davis for draft capital and young players to increase lottery odds while simultaneously jumpstarting the Cooper Flagg era.
Flagg is proving that he has the skills to be one of the best players in the Western Conference in just a few years, and a Davis extension this early into Flagg’s career is risky. Davis will be eligible for a four-year, $275 million extension this summer, and if Dallas doesn’t plan on giving this to him, it likely makes the most sense to trade him somewhere that will.
Despite this, the Mavericks are winning games, and Kyrie Irving’s return gets closer every day. With Flagg playing so well, combined with the potential of a Davis-Irving duo, fans could get talked into the reasons behind keeping Davis and stacking as many wins as possible this season. A playoff run for Flagg in his rookie season would be massive for his development, and not trading Davis is likely the only way that this will be possible.
He has played in 60 playoff games in his career, including an NBA Finals win in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Mavericks would be hoping for more of this magic again in this season’s playoffs.
The odds of the Mavericks making an NBA Finals run are slim, considering how things have gone this season, along with the fact that the Oklahoma City Thunder are looking like a dynasty. Regardless, though, Dallas may be too good to tank, and they shouldn’t settle on a lackluster offer for Davis. He remains one of the best bigs in the NBA, and if teams aren’t offering proper value, Dallas can just hold onto him for the remainder of the season.