Mavericks trade $175 million superstar in blockbuster idea

Davis dealt to Hornets in proposal

"After pulling off the least explicable trade in NBA history when he sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison aggressively (and publicly) tied his reputation (and maybe his career) to Anthony Davis and the old cliche "defense wins championships."

"An about-face and AD trade just aren't happening under his regime. But ownership has put some guardrails around Harrison since the deal, generally trying to keep him out of the public eye and monitoring his work a little more carefully going forward. The guardrails seem high enough to wonder why he's even still there.

"And if Dallas (particularly governor Patrick Dumont) realize the best path forward is a new lead executive and a rebuild around eventual No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, an AD trade could at least partially make up for the fact that Harrison didn't extract near enough value out of the Luka deal."

This trade would be a sign of the team's commitment to building around Flagg and making him the focal point of the roster for the long run as opposed to trying to compete for a championship now.

Based on how the Mavs have been talking, this doesn't seem like a direction they want to go in, but things can change at a moment's notice in Dallas.