Mavericks' high-stakes Anthony Davis trade plan finally emerges

Teams from around the NBA expect the Dallas Mavericks to move on from Anthony Davis (subscription required) ahead of the February 5 trade deadline according to NBA insider Marc Stein, and his time in Dallas may come to an end after just one year.

"Do the Mavericks move Anthony Davis before the Feb. 5 trade deadline in a nod to the increasingly appeal goal of prioritizing draft positioning," Stein wrote. "Rival teams are certainly already expecting it, but Davis on Sunday night missed his ninth straight game with a left calf strain and has been ruled out for the next 7-to-10 days at a minimum, which will cost him at least five more games."

There has been no confirmed reporting that Dallas is indeed shopping Davis. But with Nico Harrison being gone and the Mavericks eyeing some real changes, they have no obligation to keep him as one of their centerpieces. Dallas' entire focus should be on building around Cooper Flagg and the future, which could lead to Davis being moved, but that seems to be easier said than done.

Anthony Davis expected to be traded by Mavericks

Dallas may have a tougher time than fans expect moving Davis, since he has been out of the lineup for the majority of his time with the team, but from Stein's reporting here, it seems that rival teams think that they'll move on from him at some point over the next two and a half months. The Mavericks' time with Davis as their superstar has not gone according to plan, as he has only played in 14 regular-season games since being acquired in the Luka Doncic trade nine months ago, and the team is at a crossroads that could define their future.

It's clear that Flagg is the franchise cornerstone, and with rumors of big change hovering around the team after firing Harrison, it always seemed like Davis may be the next one to go.

He has barely been healthy, and even when he hasn't been healthy, he hasn't been the all-world player that Harrison thought he was getting when he traded Doncic for him. Harrison truly believed that Davis was going to give the team a better shot at contending for a title than Doncic did, but that has been far from the case.

The Mavericks' former defense wins championships philosophy has crumbled in their face, as they have only won four games despite being the No. 4-ranked defense in the NBA. They sacrificed way too much offense for defense, as they have the No. 29 offense in the NBA.

Davis' defense doesn't make up for what they lost on the offensive end from Doncic, and combine this with Davis' injury problems, and you're looking at a recipe for disaster.

This season has been the worst-case scenario when it comes to Davis, as he only played four full games before straining his calf in the first quarter of the fifth game of the season, and his return isn't looking particularly close. Davis is set to be re-evaluated at some point over the next six to nine days, meaning that the earliest that he can return is a week from today for their game against the Miami Heat.

He is going to need to string together some positive performances if the Mavericks do want to trade him, as rival teams will be monitoring his health and performances to see if he is worth trading for. Davis' trade value likely won't be as high as fans would like, but it does seem like Dallas will look to trade him at some point this season if he can prove that he can remain healthy and play at an elite level.