Dirk Nowitzki criticizes the Mavericks over the Anthony Davis trade

Dirk Nowitzki has another bone to pick with his longtime franchise.

The retired Dallas Mavericks legend Nowitzki called out the team on Saturday over their trade of Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards. Speaking on Amazon Prime’s pregame show, Nowitzki said that he was “disappointed” in the return that the Mavericks got from the Wizards for Davis.

“There’s not a lot that came back with picks or player-wise,” said Nowitzki. “So this is all about financial flexibility for the future.

“I’m a little disappointed obviously,” Nowitzki added. “I think when AD actually played with Cooper [Flagg], they played off each other really really well. I think that was a solid combo, but we’ll never know.”

Dallas traded Davis to Washington in a big eight-player deal (full details here). 34-year-old Khris Middleton was the biggest name that went back to the Mavericks in return. While Dallas did get two future first-round draft picks, it cost them three other players, including Davis. Meanwhile, those two picks are a 2026 selection projected to be at the end of the first round and a 2030 pick that is heavily restricted (top-20 protected).

The clear goal for the Mavericks was to move off the oft-injured, soon-to-be 33-year-old Davis and the significant money that he still had left on his contract ($58.5 million for next season with a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 as well).

But what makes it all a much harder pill to swallow is that Davis was the centerpiece of Dallas’ return for superstar franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic just one year ago. Nowitzki was very critical of the Mavericks over the Doncic trade and reportedly even distanced himself from the organization in its aftermath. Now the 14-time All-Star Nowitzki is offering harsher comments for Dallas about their recent trade of Davis.