Mavericks have a shocking silver lining in Anthony Davis' collapsing trade market

Over a month into the NBA's regular season, it's already clear that the Dallas Mavericks are nearing a direction when it comes to trading some of their biggest names on the roster. One name that has been in constant headlines since the firing of Nico Harrison has been Anthony Davis, who has ironically only appeared in five games this season and is already on the trade block.

While Davis' name has been a hot topic as of late, the reality of his situation with the Mavericks is that he will likely be traded in the coming months, and his return price may not be as high as expected.

Despite this, there is a hidden silver lining with an early low asking price from Dallas.

Mavericks should create a bidding war for Anthony Davis

This would make Davis' market more competitive, but it would also allow the Mavericks to slowly raise the asking price for the few teams that believe that acquiring a player like Davis may elevate their name into contending status.

For the Mavericks, this may not be the picture-perfect trade process they want, but they may not get a better shot at going all-in with Flagg under a rookie contract. With contending teams or teams wanting to push all their chips in to make a championship run in the Eastern Conference, the Mavericks may need to settle for a less-than-normal return package for a player like Davis.

Not only does Davis' name alone demand plenty of attention on the trade market, but with the Mavericks likely looking for draft picks and young players to add alongside Cooper Flagg, the team may need to lower its asking price to get as many teams as possible in a potential bidding war. The Mavericks should want a boatload of future draft assets and young players in exchange for a 32-year-old Davis, and while the reality of the situation is they won't get that, by expanding the market and making the asking price lower than normal, there may be more teams willing to take the bait.

The market for Davis has been reported not to be very large, with suitors who believe that they can win a championship, which means that there may be teams like the Detroit Pistons or Chicago Bulls who believe that by trading for a player like Davis, they could be a legit contender in a weaker Eastern Conference. With this in mind, the Mavericks may not be asking for their dream package, but they could later make the market more competitive when more teams get involved.

When the Dallas Mavericks traded for Davis by sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers during the trade deadline period of last season, the expectation was that he would instantly impact the team's defense. Not only has Davis not been the player the Mavericks expected him to be almost a year into the experiment, but his health has proven to be one of the most disappointing facets of his game.

Now, after a 5-14 start to the season, the Mavericks are looking to go in a different direction with little to no reason to compete in a loaded Western Conference. With this in mind, they are expected to explore the trade market for Davis, and it may sound sour, but the Mavericks have a perfect opportunity to get more than they expected for Davis.

With the Mavericks looking like a non-competitive team in the West, the obvious direction the team wants to head is getting as young as possible and adding as many future draft picks as they can in a trade for Davis. While this reality would be amazing, the Mavericks may find that asking for plenty of picks and young players could be a reality check waiting to happen.