Mavericks finally grant Anthony Davis his longtime wish

With the Dallas Mavericks holding on to both Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford this summer, the team will grant Anthony Davis his wish of being a full-time power forward for an entire season.

Before Davis was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Mavs, he made it clear to Rob Pelinka and company that he wanted the team to acquire a center so he could play more power forward. He has always been willing to play wherever his team needs him, but his preference to play power forward rather than center has been documented for years.

As a power forward on defense, Davis feels like he can roam around more freely rather than always having to protect the rim and avoid the wear and tear of having to bang down low with other behemoth bigs in the West, which should help his long-term availability. Davis has dealt with his fair share of injuries in the past, and him getting to play power forward for an entire season could help lead to him being the healthiest version of himself.

Mavericks will grant Anthony Davis his wish to play power forward

On the other end of the floor, Davis enjoys playing power forward because it allows him to get into his face-up game more often, rather than always having to post up. Davis is at his best when his mid-range jumper is falling, and with him not always having to crash down low and play out of the low post, this should help fully unlock his game.

As aforementioned, Davis has displayed a willingness to play wherever his team needs him, but he has a clear preference to play the four. When the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to bring in Davis, it was clear that he was going to get to play much more power forward, and the end of last season proved that.

Even though he only played in nine games for Dallas, he got to play 39 percent of his minutes at power forward, which was a major change from what he had experienced in the few seasons prior in Los Angeles. Over Davis' final three seasons as a Laker, he played center less than one percent of the time. He had become the team's full-time center, and even before the 2022-23 season, he was still playing mostly center.

In the 2021-22 season, Davis spent 76 percent of his time at center and 24 percent of his time at power forward. This was a major change from the previous few seasons, as he was primarily playing power forward at the beginning of his Lakers journey and the end of his stint with the New Orleans Pelicans, and Dallas will help him get back to the style of basketball that he likes best.

For the nine games Davis played in Dallas (excluding the two play-in games), Lively II or Gafford were only healthy for six of those games, and there were only three games in which Davis played in a game where both Lively II and Gafford were healthy. If Gafford and Lively II were healthy once Davis returned from his adductor strain, his power forward percentage would've been much higher, and he has displayed real excitement to play with Dallas' two-headed monster at center.

Heading into next season, Mavericks fans can expect Davis to play a large percentage of his minutes at the four, especially if they keep Gafford and Lively II out of any potential trade talks that come up. He could end up closing some games at the five, but with two of Dallas' best players being centers (Lively II and Gafford), it'll make most sense for Davis to spend most of his time at power forward.

This is all he has been asking for, and we could see some of the best basketball we have seen out of Davis in some time as he steps into a new role in Dallas.