The Dallas Mavericks are having one of the worst overall seasons in the league so far. Last season’s controversial trade sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis continues to haunt the franchise. The Mavericks caught the luckiest break possible during the offseason when they won the draft lottery and selected Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick.
Hopes of contending with Davis, Klay Thompson and an injured Kyrie Irving potentially returning this season have placed Flagg’s development behind the team’s short-term focus on winning. However, the early losing streak has set them on a negative path, with fans still upset about losing Doncic.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently shared on The Hoop Collective that fans hoping for a Davis trade shouldn’t expect one under general manager Nico Harrison’s watch.
“Nico will never, ever do that,” MacMahon said. “They are in year two, in his definition, of a three- to four-year contending window.”
MacMahon believes Harrison is too proud to trade away Davis and pivot toward rebuilding around Flagg for the franchise’s future. Trading Davis would confirm that Dallas lost the Luka trade, but it could help ensure Flagg’s development as a generational talent.
Why Fans Want Anthony Davis Traded
No one can question the talent or success of Davis when he’s healthy and playing at his best. However, he’s already dealing with an injury that limits the team’s ceiling since they rely on him to lead the way. The top-75 player returned tonight, but the Mavericks still struggle to win even with him on the court.
Fans will never forgive Harrison for the Doncic trade unless the team wins a title with this core. Irving remains the biggest game-changer, as Dallas’ early plans hinged on his expected return this season. The hope was that the Mavericks could stay competitive and become a contender once Kyrie returned later in the season.
Falling so far behind this early will leave them contending for a play-in spot as the best-case scenario in a loaded Western Conference. The argument for trading Davis is that it could bring in more future assets to rebuild around Flagg and allow Irving to sit out the rest of the season without risking further injury by returning too soon for no reason.
Anthony Davis Can’t Save Nico Harrison
The biggest point in this situation comes back to Nico Harrison having to make a major decision this season. Veteran Klay Thompson has been benched and appears on his way out if another team shows interest. The plan to contend with three aging stars, a prized rookie prospect, and veteran role players has already failed.
Nothing Harrison can do will save his reputation with Mavericks fans in the short term unless they start contending. However, continuing to apply short-term fixes may hurt the franchise even more in the long run as the situation grows increasingly dire.
Davis alone is not enough to make this team a contender, and the Mavericks are risking Flagg’s development in the process. The Philadelphia 76ers have done a better job developing fellow rookie VJ Edgecombe on a winning team than Dallas has with Flagg on a struggling one. Either ownership firing Harrison or Harrison admitting it’s time to rebuild would be the best path forward.
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