Anthony Davis blockbuster leaves Mavericks with pressing roster issue

The Dallas Mavericks pulled off a massive deal on Wednesday, sending Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, Dante Exum, and D'Angelo Russell to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley III, AJ Johnson, and Malaki Branham, two first-round picks, and three second-round picks. However, as promising as this deal could be for Dallas in terms of building around Cooper Flagg, it didn't accomplish making room for Ryan Nembhard on Dallas' 15-man roster.

Dallas has been poised to convert Nembhard from a two-way contract to a standard deal at some point this season, amidst some impressive performances from the 22-year-old rookie, and there have even been reports they'd like to do the same with fellow two-way contract signee Moussa Cisse. The Mavericks still have time to accomplish one or both of these feats if they want, but it will have to come from waiving someone after the deadline or making a consolidation trade to create space.

There's still plenty of time for the Mavericks to make another consolidation deal ahead of the 2 p.m. CST trade deadline tomorrow, with Daniel Gafford being the most likely candidate to be traded in such a deal, but things may get tricky if Dallas is unable to find a home for Gafford or someone else.

Davis trade doesn't make room for Nembhard on a standard deal yet

Gafford has been struggling with ankle injuries all season, and recent reports indicate that one of his prospective suitors, the Atlanta Hawks, is only willing to give up second-round compensation instead of first-round compensation. The Mavericks did shed nearly $25 million in the Davis trade, though, so if they are unable to find a home for Gafford, they definitely have the space to waive a player or two to sign Nembhard and or Cisse.

However, given the Mavericks are clearly positioned to build around Flagg now, getting draft compensation for Gafford and not having to waive a player(s) to sign Nembhard and Cisse would definitely be a huge win if they can pull it off. Even though Nembhard has struggled with his efficiency recently, he's still a budding young guard who is a tremendous table-setter when he has the right pieces around him, so it won't be surprising at all if Dallas converts him to a standard deal at all.

The Davis trade has provided the Mavericks with the financial flexibility to go in a couple of different directions in terms of converting Nembhard's deal, but it still hasn't created the space for Dallas to do this yet. The next 48 hours or so will be telling in terms of which direction Dallas ultimately chooses, but Nembhard is likely still poised to be in the point guard rotation with Johnson, Brandon Williams, and potentially Kyrie Irving (if he comes back to play this season).