Analyst slams Mavericks fit with Anthony Davis

Davis not fitting with Mavs

"Anthony Davis looked pretty out of place on a Dallas Mavericks team that gave up Luka Dončić to get him. Organizations never move 25-year-old superstars in the thick of their primes, and if they were going to, conventional wisdom suggests they should be prioritizing a youth movement rather than the acquisition of a 32-year-old with his own checkered health bill who can’t spearhead the offense," Favale wrote.

"This entire situation somehow looks even more bizarre less than six months later. Kyrie Irving is recovering from a torn left ACL that’s expected to sideline him at least until the New Year. Oh, and because the world makes no sense, the Mavs also won the 2025 NBA draft lottery, and the right to select 18-year-old phenom Cooper Flagg.

"Competitive timelines are largely overrated when windows open and close so quickly nowadays, but the idea of Dallas figuring out how to contend while juggling the development of a star prospect roughly a decade-and-a-half younger than AD and Kyrie is all sorts of awkward. 

"This says nothing of a roster not currently designed to properly tee-up Davis on offense until Kyrie returns. The chances of Flagg being that guy from Day 1 are slim. The odds of the Mavs maximizing what’s left of Davis’ prime, as currently constructed, are even slimmer. A marriage that felt risky, if not needless, in the first place now seems like even more of a disjointed fit—for both player and team."

While the Mavs are more built for the long run with Flagg coming into the fold, the team still wants to contend, which is why Davis makes sense for the team. However, the dueling timelines are eventually going to butt heads, and one will have to rise above the other.

If it ends up skewing towards the future, Davis should be traded soon.