Getty Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Amid rumors surrounding the Dallas Mavericks potentially prying Anthony Davis away from the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show” to clarify where things stand between Davis and Los Angeles.
“While I admit there might be something amiss there, I don’t think Anthony Davis wants to not be a Laker,” Windhorst said on February 17. “My understanding is he still is 100% bought in on that.”
Though Davis won a title with the Lakers in 2020, Los Angeles has largely failed to develop as a power since then, getting knocked out of the first round of the 2021 Western Conference playoffs, missing the 2022 postseason and hovering below .500 for most of this season.
Dallas Plans to ‘Make a Run’ at Davis This Summer
On February 14, Fox Sports Radio’s Colin Cowherd speculated on his podcast that Dallas might target Davis via trade this summer.
“I had a scout I trust say the body language by AD (when LeBron James broke the scoring record) wasn’t a coincidence,” he said on “The Colin Cowherd Podcast.” “I had a scout tell me last week that Dallas is going to make a run at him. Anthony Davis believes that he’s lost the trust of LeBron.”
Davis would go a long way toward bolstering Dallas’ defense in the frontcourt. Further, he would add another All Star-level talent to pair with Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić.
However, Fox Sports 1’s Chris Broussard said in response to speculation about a Davis-Dallas union that the Mavericks could try to sign Irving and then turn around and trade him to the Lakers for Davis.
“Dallas’ objective this summer is Kyrie for AD sign-and-trade,” Broussard said during the February 20 episode on FS1’s “First Things First.” “If AD doesn’t ball in these last 23 games, the Lakers might look at something like that.”
When Davis is at his best, he’s an MVP-caliber player. Prior to a foot injury sustained in December, Davis was up to 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
But he also presents a serious injury risk. Though one of the more talented bigs in the league, he’s missed significant time since the Lakers won a title, including 24 games this season.
Mavericks Going All-In This Summer
The speculation that Dallas is interested in Davis is certainly consistent with recent reports about the Mavericks’ summer outlook.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, Dallas’ next move could be using future draft picks to bring in even more star power to support the Irving-Dončić combination.
“Using a 2029 unprotected first-round pick to land Irving will allow Dallas to move both their 2025 and 2027 first-round picks this summer, after the Mavericks’ 2023 selection finally conveys to New York as part of the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis deal,” Fischer wrote.
Dallas’ summer plans largely hinge on how well the Dončić-Irving pairing goes this season. If there’s enough proof of concept, it could entice the team to go all in.
“If Irving and Doncic manage to form the partnership Dončić and Porzingis never could fully cement, then perhaps the Mavericks will even take those picks and go shopping for an additional co-star for Dončić and Irving. Why stop at two alphas when you can chase a third? That has been the going order of operations for teams in the superstar-stacking business.”