Mavericks are facing Anthony Davis dilemma, and Cooper Flagg thinks it's his fault

The Dallas Mavericks are in a tricky situation, as they have a player going through an identity crisis. Anthony Davis wants to be a power forward, when everyone agrees that he's better suited to be a center in 2025. The early returns from the offense, albeit in the preseason, have been far from great.

The spacing has been awful. There's no way to sugarcoat it. Davis never has been and never will be a good shooter, neither of the centers will be shooters, D'Angelo Russell has lost a step from deep, and teams are daring Flagg to shoot until he proves otherwise. There just isn't enough spacing to make the doubters (like myself) think their style of play will be sustainable.

It doesn't help that Davis showed up out of shape, even if he had a great reason to be after the procedure to repair his detached retina in the offseason. That made it so that he couldn't work out for probably around a month. He came into training camp about 15 pounds heavier than normal, saying he usually works his way into shape, but Saturday's game showed that he's still a ways away from that.

Davis was getting beaten constantly on the perimeter, which is something he'll have to do at power forward. It's one thing to be a center and switch on ball screens; it's another to have to guard them on every possession. Davis, in his prime, was one of the most impactful defenders of all time, but is he leaving that prime?