It finally happened! After months of fans campaigning, the Dallas Mavericks finally fired GM Nico Harrison after the Luka Dončić trade debacle. Harrison’s baffling trade hung over the franchise, with him also making other awful moves that left the Mavericks with very little ability to build around first overall pick Cooper Flagg.
While they do have two All-Stars, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, Harrison seemed unwilling to move either, with him seemingly committed to trying to win with this group. Especially after he bet on building a better team post-Doncic.
However, with him gone, Davis could see his name pop up in trade rumors, with him being the Mavericks’ best trade chip. While he is 32 years old and has a long injury history, he is still a top 20 player in the NBA.
As a result, Dallas should look to trade him ASAP, and there will likely be quite a few teams looking to land the future Hall of Famer.
The Dallas Mavericks must trade Anthony Davis ASAP
One potential team that could have interest is the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are desperately trying to build a contender around Domantas Sabonis and suffered several setbacks last season, resulting in them missing the playoffs entirely.
They have gotten off to a surprisingly decent start this year and could double down on their early success by trading for Davis. Putting Davis next to Sabonis would solve a lot of their defensive issues and potentially give them a shot at making the postseason.
While it wouldn’t make them contenders, it would make them a far more competent team. One potential trade could see them ship out DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, and two future first-round picks for Davis.
In turn, the Mavericks could shop DeRozan to another team with the hope of getting back multiple second-round picks; the same could be said for Monk. If they play their cards right, in that scenario, they could end up with two firsts and around three second-round picks for Davis.
The Mavericks must get all they can get for Anthony Davis
That would help to take some of the sting out of trading Doncic and give them more avenues to build around Flagg going forward. They could also look to shop Irving, and any other other veteran that draws trade interest, though he is 33 years old and coming off a major surgery.
If he returns and looks great ahead of the trade deadline, then another team might be interested in acquiring him. But only if Dallas is willing to take on bad or long-term contracts in return.
They absolutely should look to do so if it means they can restock their draft cupboard. With Dallas having so few draft assets or young talent, the only untouchable players on their roster should be Flagg and Derek Lively II. How they fill in their roster around them going forward will depend on what they do with Davis and if and when they trade him.
