Mavericks owner is quietly undoing Nico Harrison's reckless Anthony Davis disaster

Dallas Mavericks governor and majority owner Patrick Dumont has inserted himself into the decision-making process of when Anthony Davis returns to the court from his left calf strain, and he is being extra cautious. This is something that Nico Harrison likely wouldn't have ever done, as he is notorious for rushing players back from injuries, and he even wanted Davis to play last weekend.

To put things into perspective, Davis is still out due to this injury that he suffered on October 29, and playing him last weekend would've put him in harm's way.

The Mavericks' medical team said that there was a risk that Davis would tear his Achilles if he came back too soon, and Harrison still urged him to play last Saturday and then on Monday. Harrison, of course, was fired on Tuesday, but the fact that Dumont is being extremely careful with Davis and his return is a promising sign as Dallas enters this new era of basketball.

On top of being involved in conversations around Davis' return, Dumont is also trying to get medical data that indicates Davis won't get re-injured before allowing him to return to the floor. Harrison was more aggressive in his approach to player injuries, as Mavericks fans will never forget the Mavericks trying to rush Luka Doncic back from the calf strain that he suffered on Christmas Day of last year, and Dumont straying away from Harrison's ways is a major breath of fresh air for fans.

Dumont is flipping the script on Harrison's injury philosophy

He went from fully trusting Harrison to weighing in on when a player returns from an injury, and this, combined with Mark Cuban being a valued voice once again, should be good for the Mavericks during the rest of the first year of the Cooper Flagg era. Dumont is making an effort to learn the ropes of running a basketball team and being more involved, and this is something that Dallas definitely needs from him.

The Mavericks may never have a majority owner that was as passionate and involved as Cuban again, but with Cuban in his ear, maybe Dumont can begin to take strides to becoming a true MFFL like Cuban is.

The Mavericks' choice to trade Davis before the deadline or keep him around is going to be the biggest story of the season, and Dallas now has no obligation to hold onto him with Harrison gone. It seems like Harrison would've never considered trading Davis since he made the most shocking trade in NBA history to bring him to Dallas, but now, the Mavs have a fairly clean slate and can move forward however they please.

Trading Davis and building around Flagg seems like the most logical option, and Dumont ensuring that he does whatever he can to make sure that Davis stays in good health is a smart move. A catastrophic injury to Davis would obliterate the Mavericks' chance to get a massive trade haul for him, and Davis being fully healthy before he returns should certainly drive his trade value up.

Having to discuss Davis' trade value nine months after the Mavericks landed him shows how much of a disaster is going on in Dallas, but with the ring leader of the nightmare gone, there are better days ahead.

Regardless of whether Dallas plans on trading Davis or keeping him around as one of the faces of the franchise, Dumont is making the right play here by playing the slow game. At 3-9, the Mavericks' playoff hopes are looking grim, and they can't risk anything happening to one of their top assets in Davis.