Now that Nico Harrison is out in Dallas, questions are swirling about what the Mavericks should do next. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, league sources believe that the Mavericks should gauge the trade market for Anthony Davis. However, one thing is sure: the Mavericks won't come close to matching what the Los Angeles Lakers did for the big man.
Nine months ago, Los Angeles sent Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick to Dallas for a package centered around Luka Dončić. The Lakers traded their oft-injured, but beloved, then 31-year-old Davis for a 25-year-old (at the time) generational superstar. That trade never made sense, hence why Harrison is no longer with the Mavericks.
Since the trade, Davis has played only 14 games for Dallas. He suffered an adductor strain in his first game with the Mavericks, and finished the 2024-25 season playing nine regular-season games, plus one play-in tournament game. So far this season, AD has played five games, missing the past several contests with a calf strain.
On the topic of trading Davis, a Western conference executive told MacMahon: "You don't go two timelines anymore. You say, 'We're going to take what we can get [for Davis].' At this point, I'm not sure what they can get."
That says it all.
Will the Mavericks try to trade Anthony Davis after firing Harrison?
As MacMahon said, Davis is "still a dominant force on both ends of the floor when healthy." The issue is that he's struggled to stay healthy. He has only played in at least 70 games once since the 2017-18 season, when he was still with the Pelicans. That was during the 2023-24 season, when he played 76 games in LA.
Harrison traded for Davis, thinking that he would be the missing piece to the Mavericks winning a title within the next few years. That dream quickly evaporated. It would make sense for Dallas to try to trade him before the deadline, but the Mavericks will need to temper their expectations about what they could get for him in return. It won't be anything comparable to Dončić, that's for sure.
The situation that Davis is in is unfortunate. Dallas fans know that he wasn't the reason for the trade, but it's still hard to look at him without being reminded of all that the Mavericks lost. It doesn't help that he's spent more time off the court than on it, either. Luka's dominance isn't doing Davis any favors, either.
Hopefully, whatever happens will work out for AD, but this all makes the Lakers somehow look even better for the Dončić trade.