Anthony Davis' agent sees a silver lining in Mavericks' injury nightmare

The Dallas Mavericks will be without Anthony Davis for an extended period after he suffered ligament damage in his left hand, consequently tanking their chances of trading him this season. The Mavericks had been fielding offers for their star big man for weeks, but with this injury potentially requiring surgery, it doesn't make sense for a team to trade him during the season.

Dallas won't be able to cash in on the potential trade value he possessed when he was at his best earlier this season, but this isn't necessarily the worst thing for the Mavs. While his value has undoubtedly decreased, Davis' agent, Rich Paul, pointed out the fact that Dallas could end up pairing a high lottery pick with Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Cooper Flagg after this season.

This wouldn't be the case if Davis hadn't gotten injured, as they would have naturally been winning more games if he were healthy. Davis was playing some of his best basketball of the season before getting injured, but now the Mavericks are in a position to tank for the remainder of the season if they choose to do so.

Why Anthony Davis' hand injury could actually help the Mavericks

"There is a world you come out of this draft with a great draft pick, that you're looking at the following year and saying ‘now wait a minute, we got these two young guys on rookie contracts that are really good that are able to really still play the game at a high level...We have a Kyrie and an AD, two top 15 players. Who are champions," Paul said in a recent podcast episode of "Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul. "It’s not totally negative."

No injury is ever a good thing, especially since Paul was talking about one of his Klutch clients in Davis, but he does have a point. The Mavericks will be forced to tank the rest of the season, considering how poorly they play without Davis in the lineup, and this should thrust them into a great spot to land a favorable lottery pick.

Dallas, if healthy, would already be scary with Davis, Irving, and Flagg healthy. Now, add a top pick into that mix, and they should be a top-eight seed in the Western Conference if everything goes according to plan.

They currently have the eighth-best odds of securing the No. 1 pick, and these odds will only increase if Davis misses a ton of time. Dallas is 5-15 without Davis this year, and considering how many other injuries the team is dealing with, the Mavericks are going to struggle to win games.

On top of Davis' unavoidable absence, Dallas also has the third-hardest remaining schedule in the league, only trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. The losses are going to pile up in Dallas, whether they want them to or not, and this is the one silver lining of Davis going down.

This was the last thing that the Mavericks needed amid this nightmare season, but the opportunity to pick in the lottery can't be undermined. Dallas doesn't fully control their own first-round pick until 2031, and this is their only time that they can tank in an effort to draft a co-star for Cooper Flagg.

It would definitely be a controversial approach, as losing games can be extremely frustrating to fans, but it's something they must do to prioritize their future around Flagg. You never want to see a player go down, and while Davis' injury (if he opts to get surgery) may have just ended Dallas' season, it may have been what they needed to reset ahead of next season.