It’s just over a month until the NBA trade deadline. So, time is running out for teams to make moves that could impact their fortunes not only this year, but for the near future.
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Every year, contending teams try to add a piece or two to make a run. Tanking teams trade expiring contracts for future assets. But for some teams, the direction they need to take at the deadline isn’t quite so obvious. Take the Dallas Mavericks, for instance. Mavs fans are still traumatized and probably always will be after last year’s deadline saw Luka Doncic shipped away to the Lakers for Anthony Davis.
General manager Nico Harrison has since been fired for that move that got him universally vilified. And, with the Mavs scuffling at just 12-23, there’s one school of thought that says they should strip the team down to the studs (read: Cooper Flagg). Another suggests that they should wait and see what they look like if everyone can get healthy.
Kyrie Irving hasn’t played yet this year as he recovers from a torn ACL. Davis has missed 18 games with a variety of ailments. Daniel Gafford has also missed some time, while Dereck Lively II won’t be back until next year after undergoing season-ending foot surgery.
It’s not his fault, but Davis has been the embodiment of what’s ailing the Mavs, simply by the sin of being the guy that Luka was traded for. His ongoing injury issues have been a problem, but Max Christie, who came with AD from the Lakers, said after the game on Thursday night that the big man is more impactful than people realize.
“His defensive presence is something that I think isn’t obviously showing up on the stat sheet,” Christie said, “but his ability to deter offensive players, every time an offensive player goes to the basket, they’re thinking about it.”
Christie also credited AD’s ability to pass out of double teams as another way that he contributes. That all sounds well and good, but the Mavs also need to be honest with themselves. All these little things Davis is doing are simply not contributing to winning. The Mavs are just 8-9 when AD plays, and his stats are down across the board.
Davis is averaging 20.1 points and getting to the line 3.8 times per game. Both of those stats are the lowest since his rookie year over a decade ago. He’s blocking fewer shots than he ever has before, and has yet to record more than three in a game.
Even if Kyrie comes back and goes ‘full Kyrie’ (in a good way), what’s the ceiling for this team? Making it through the play-in and getting swept by the Thunder in the first round?
It’s unfortunate for Davis that he has been an unwitting participant in one of the worst trades in NBA history. But for the Mavs’ sake and his, they need to trade him sometime in the next month.
Dallas has a bright future with Flagg, and they would be better served to get in sync with his timeline. Davis and Kyrie could help contend if given the right opportunity, but it needs to be somewhere other than Dallas.
