Mavericks staring at Anthony Davis nightmare if new rumors are true

The rumors swirling around Anthony Davis' future have been active since Nico Harrison was fired, and if the Mavs don't do their job to ship him off somewhere else before the trade deadline, it's going to be a nightmare for their future.

The Mavs' season was almost rocked when reports came down that Davis would miss multiple months and would need surgery on his left hand. It turns out Davis was right about not having to get surgery on his hand. That's after he concurred with Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles that he would be ready to return in six weeks, rather than missing a few months.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported that several NBA executives have seen Davis' value go down and that the Mavs will likely keep him after the deadline. If that happens, it could cause an uproar from the fan base for basically trading Luka Doncic for nothing and not getting a proper trade return while they had the chance. Not only that, but the return for Davis wouldn't even be worth it.

Why the Mavericks may be stuck with Anthony Davis this season

"Following Davis’ latest hand injury, which the Mavericks announced won’t require surgery and is expected to heal in approximately six weeks, several NBA executives who spoke with HoopsHype predict he’ll remain in Dallas past the trade deadline due to his decreased trade value, unless the Mavericks essentially want to salary dump him," Scotto said.

The Mavs should absolutely not extend him to a long-term deal this summer, especially after this latest injury. If they don't get a good return out of Davis, this trade will officially go down as the biggest dud that the sports world has ever seen.

The Mavs may be trapped with Davis on the sideline after the trade deadline, and no team will want him because of his injury history. Not getting any draft capital is bad enough, but if they only get expiring contracts back for him (as recent rumors have indicated), this will be a nightmare that fans will never forget.

It doesn't matter for Mavs fans, though. They were done with Davis long before his latest injury. It only took the first three quarters of his Mavs debut to prove Nico Harrison wrong about the obvious concern for trading for a player like Davis when he got injured. The Mavs may not be far from escaping Davis, but if they aren't able to, it's not going to be good.

Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka fleeced Nico Harrison more than Harrison will ever believe. If the Mavs are only able to trade Davis for expiring money, this will be the cherry on top of arguably the worst trade ever. Not getting Austin Reaves in the trade was bad enough, but not even getting a chance to see Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Cooper Flagg on the court together will be another disappointment.

A few years back, Davis was one of the best players in the NBA. Nobody is talking about him like that anymore, and it almost seems like retirement is coming before he gets back to being a top-10 player once again.

It's possible the Mavs could go from having a former MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, to not having Doncic or Davis in the span of a year. At this point, all the Mavs need is a new start. Fans want that to happen with Flagg, not Davis.