Anthony Davis's next team is now painfully obvious after Nico firing

29 teams in the NBA may like to have Anthony Davis on their roster, but in reality only a handful make sense as realistic trade partners. When he hits the trade market, one team in particular is the obvious landing spot for Davis: the Miami Heat.

The firing of Nico Harrison was only the first step in the Dallas Mavericks bailing water off of a sinking ship and getting back to sailing speed. Harrison's spotty track record, combined with the sheer volume of activity -- he seemingly never met a trade possibility he didn't like -- has kept the entire Dalals roster churning over the last few seasons.

While many in Dallas would like some stability, the time to slow down has not yet come. The Mavericks have to reset the roster after the disastrous Luka Doncic trade and instead build around No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. This roster is not going to compete for a championship in the next two seasons, and that means the time to trade Davis was yesterday -- and today will have to settle for the best option now.

Many around the league already expect Davis will indeed be traded; the question is less "if" and more so "when" he will be moving on. Speaking into that question is where Davis will ultimately end up. Which teams not only want Davis, but have the salary flexibility and necessary assets to pull off a trade for the talented but expensive big man?

Teams in the dregs of the league aren't going to trade for 32-year-old Anthony Davis. Teams with an All-Star center aren't making such a move, either. That includes both established stars like Nikola Jokic and rising stars like Jaren Duren. Now, take out teams whose financial position is so limited that they can't possibly put together an offer for Davis, and the field is getting quite limited.

The Miami Heat make sense for an Anthony Davis trade

Yet in the midst of all the culling and the chatter, one team in particular stands above the others as a trade suitor for Anthony Davis: the Miami Heat. Pat Riley is no stranger to adding big-time talent, and the Heat are a perennial chaser of star players on the trade market. They have to be brought up whenever any star approaches the trade market.

There is also some serious proof of concept for the Heat in that Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo made an elite pairing on Team USA for the Paris Olympics. They were a tandem unit coming off the bench behind Joel Embiid and absolutely destroying teams on the glass and defensively. Both are mobile, with Adebayo more comfortable switching onto the perimeter and Davis erasing anyone who comes into the paint. And while neither is an elite perimeter marksman on offense, both have enough range to not entirely clog the lane for one another.

Now the question of compensation for Dallas comes to mind, and the Heat have a few paths to building a trade and a bevy of young prospects to whet the appetite of the Mavericks. If the Mavericks want salary relief, the Heat send along Norman Powell and his expiring contract. If they want a young star, then Tyler Herro becomes the centerpiece. Add in Terry Rozier and his expiring deal and it becomes an easy trade to make.

Dallas will hope multiple suitors show up and drive up the cost, and they could certainly decide that they like another package better than the one offered by Miami. At this point, however, the frontrunner to be AD's next team is the Miami Heat; now we see if they can get a deal done.