Mavericks' Anthony Davis plan says everything about the Luka Doncic disaster

It's no secret now that the Dallas Mavericks have been openly shopping Anthony Davis in trade conversations. While it's unclear what team will land the 32-year-old big man, one thing has become clear: the Mavericks are seeking expiring contracts in any Davis trade.

After trading a franchise savior in Luka Doncic for an injury-riddled star such as Davis, Mavericks fans are absolutely disgusted that, not even a year removed from the two-star trade, the Mavericks are looking to swap Davis for expiring contracts. To make matters even worse for fans, the free agent market for this coming summer is headlined by names like Tobias Harris, Anfernee Simons, and Norman Powell, who are all controversial players in their own right.

It makes sense for Dallas to look to free up cap space by trading Davis for expiring contracts, but it just makes the Davis-Doncic trade look so much worse.

Not even a year removed from Luka Doncic being on the roster, the Mavericks have gone from possible contenders to looking for a route to potentially tanking and focusing on the draft. Despite Davis talks failing to garner any true suitors outside of the Atlanta Hawks right now, concentrating on acquiring expiring contracts is already an awful sign for Davis' value.

Mavericks are already trying to undo the Luka Doncic trade

From the jump, it was clear that the Mavericks lost the Doncic sweepstakes after only receiving one future first-round pick for a top-three player in the league. Now, almost a year removed, the Mavericks are looking to get rid of Davis and build around Flagg with the assets the team receives this trade deadline.

While it's hard to match a player's contract when he is making $62 million annually, the Mavericks are trying to garner as much attention around Davis as possible. There have been a few teams that have been willing to take the bait and engage in early trade talks with Dallas, but a majority of the interest surrounding Davis would likely require a swap of expiring contracts, young assets, AND future draft picks. Unfortunately, this type of return sounds unrealistic for the Mavericks at this juncture.

Considering that the Mavericks are focusing on expiring contracts in the hopes is a clear sign of how regretful trading Doncic was. They already want to start over clean and get Davis' contract off their books as soon as they can. On the season, Davis is averaging 20.3 points and 11.1 rebounds per game while playing in 19 regular-season games.

Attempting to trade Davis shouldn't come as a surprise to fans, but considering that the team is already focusing on garnering expiring contracts, it should be taken as a bad sign about the market for the 10-time All-Star.

The Mavericks are currently a non-contender in the Western Conference, and owner Patrick Dumont has expressed interest in seeing Kyrie Irving, Davis, and Flagg play on the floor together before making a decision; however, the Mavericks may be well out of the playoff race before Irving is set to return.

With the Mavericks seeking expiring contracts for Davis, it may be in their best interest to just hold on to the big man and either attempt to trade him in the offseason or roll into a new season with a healthy Davis, Flagg, and Irving as the franchise's big three. There is still debate on whether the Mavericks will even trade Davis, but if they are serious about trading for Flagg's future, it's important that the front office finds the best trade package for the team's future.