Mavericks dodge another Anthony Davis nightmare if new rumors are true

While the Dallas Mavericks are in a sticky situation with Anthony Davis right now, all signs are pointing toward them avoiding the mistake of signing Davis to a contract extension this summer. On a recent episode of “The Hoop Collective”, NBA insider Tim MacMahon spilled that Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, essentially determined Dallas didn’t want to extend Davis, which is a sigh of relief to most Mavericks fans if these rumors are true.

Per MacMahon, Paul was given a “Wait, we’ll see” answer from Dallas’ front office regarding a potential Davis extension, which Paul probably sees as Dallas simply procrastinating the denial of a Davis extension in hopes of softening the blow to Paul and Davis’ camp.

As great a player as Davis is, his inability to stay on the floor has plagued his time in Dallas, and it’s clear the Mavericks want to move on from Davis if they can find the right trade. Paul inherently knows this, hence why he wants to see Davis with a new team as well as an opportunity for a new extension this offseason, but it’s hard to imagine teams will be lining up at the door to extend and trade for Davis based on how this past year has gone for him.

Rich Paul is looking elsewhere for an Anthony Davis extension

Regardless if the Mavericks trade or keep Davis past the February 5 trade deadline, choosing not to extend him is undoubtedly the best course of action. Dallas already has a ton of money tied up in soon-to-be 34-year-old guard Kyrie Irving, so with a pathway to contention not being clear at the moment, there’s no reason for Dallas to tie up a majority of their money in two older stars at the dawn of the Cooper Flagg era.

If Dallas were to extend Davis, they run the risk of being deep into the second apron for multiple seasons in a row, especially since they have multiple young players that will be seeking bigger deals soon, such as Max Christie and Dereck Lively II.

Ultimately, the Mavericks have autonomy over where they can trade Davis, so it’s not like he can simply waive a trade because he doesn’t think he could sign an extension with that new team, but Paul will probably do everything in his power to convince Dallas to send Davis to a team that would want to extend him.

Again, it’s hard to imagine who would be willing to sign up for such a proposition, but rumored suitors for Davis, such as the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks, could be desperate enough to want to trade for Davis in hopes of making a push in the East, and perhaps they’d even be willing to commit to him long-term.

However, this isn’t something the Mavericks are in a position to do, as they are already loaded in the frontcourt when healthy, which has complicated Davis’ preference to play the four and his fit from the get-go. We’ll see whether the Mavericks ultimately keep Davis beyond the deadline or not, but given how things are trending in terms of his trade value steadily declining, it’s probably in their best interest to find a deal for him, given contract extension talks seem to be a no-go.