In what was a stunning pre-deadline move that shook up the NBA landscape, the Dallas Mavericks moved on from Luka Doncic in exchange for an Anthony Davis-headlined return from the LA Lakers. Unsurprisingly, that polarizing decision from the Mavs front office has already blown up in their face.
Dallas was coming off their first NBA Finals appearance since 2011 just one season ago, led by the superstar abilities of Doncic. Now they see themselves scraping by just to reach the NBA play-in.
Their team-wide injury issues have not helped their case during the 2024-25 campaign. They have been dealt with several devastating injuries, most notably with Kyrie Irving’s season-ending torn ACL and unfortunately from Davis.
Although Davis has returned to the court recently, he was sidelined indefinitely by the time his Mavericks debut even ended.
It’s no secret that the talented big man is still in the prime of his career and one of the greatest two-way players in the entire association— when healthy. But with Dallas quickly seeing a vast decline from their Finals run a year ago, their impulsive roster decisions may not be done.
If they wanted to completely tear down this build, there is one player attractive enough to flip for assets to build their future.
Anthony Davis would instantly be one of the most coveted players on the trade market, if made available.
If the Mavs come to their realization that they embarrassingly lost that Doncic-Davis blockbuster, they could still have time to recoup pieces in a soft rebuild. The Miami Heat are a team that could have those pieces.
Not only do the Heat have attractive young players and contracts to work salary wise, but they now have some draft compensation to work with. They received a first-round pick from the Jimmy Butler deal, and could opt to utilize future draft picks and pick swaps if the right deal came to the table.
Some of those young, yet expendable players include Nikola Jovic, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Pelle Larsson and Kel’el Ware.
As promising as the Bam Adebayo-Ware frontcourt duo has looked early on, Davis and Adebayo could be that much more lethal right away. Heat fans got a preview of the hybrid big-man pairing at last summer’s Olympics. Those two anchored Team USA's best lineups and helped fuel their Gold medal run.
As difficult as it could be to pull the plug on Ware early, acquiring a win-now superstar like Davis would not only be justifiable, but it could also create a true contender in South Beach.
