Inside the Mavericks' pivotal trade deadline blueprint — who's really on the move?

The NBA trade deadline is just over 50 days away, and the Dallas Mavericks' plans are already clear. They will listen to trade offers for players like Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Daniel Gafford, and Klay Thompson, but they want to be competitive for the rest of the year.

Conversely, they don't want to trade Kyrie Irving and view him as a long-term building block next to Cooper Flagg. Irving has been incredible in Dallas on and off the court over the last two and a half years, and they don't want him going anywhere.

He was a voice of reason after the Luka Doncic trade and has provided top-notch leadership to players like Ryan Nembhard and Brandon Williams this season, and the Mavericks don't want to mess up the positive momentum he has built in D-Town. On the other hand, the same can't be said about some of his veteran teammates.

The Mavericks want to ride it out — for now

Dallas doesn't want to run Davis, Gafford, and Thompson out of town, but they also aren't against gauging their interest around the league and exploring different trades. Additionally, P.J. Washington would likely be a coveted trade target across the league due to his rise this season. Despite his career-best season, he is ineligible to be traded due to the contract extension that he signed over the offseason.

They aren't going to sell off pieces just to do so, and the most intriguing chatter over the last few weeks has been that around Davis. Fans have expected the team to trade him before the February 5 trade deadline for weeks, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Dallas is fine with holding onto him if they need to.

And plainly, that may be the right choice with all things considered.

Davis has struggled to stay on the floor this season, and they need to maximize his trade value until they do decide to eventually move on. Allowing him to play out the season and prove he is still one of the top bigs in the NBA is a much better option than trading him for two cents on the dollar, and they'd still have the option to trade him in the offseason.

For present success, having Davis on the roster is obviously the right decision. They'll win more games with him on the court instead of a few young players and future draft capital in their cupboard, and an end-of-season surge could work wonders for Flagg's development.

They have won five of their last seven games, and these wins reflect a tough reality for the crowd that hoped Dallas would tank.

The Mavericks know that their roster is too good to effectively tank, and it sounds like they're going to stack up as many wins as they can in an effort to see how potent they can be once at full strength. Irving is on the way back to the lineup, and adding him alongside a red-hot Flagg and Davis will have other teams shaking in their boots.

However, things could change quickly.

There have already been some whispers about Dallas not bringing back Irving from injury at all this season, and while that seems to be a massive long shot, the possibility is still there. He wants to be back on the floor, but if the Mavs do end up moving Davis, there won't be much of an incentive for him to return.

The Mavericks have already dug themselves into a massive hole, and even though they've played much better lately, the chances of them emerging as a contender before the end of the season are slim. It has already been announced that up-and-coming center Dereck Lively II is out for the year with a foot injury, and without one of their most impactful defensive players in the mix, Dallas may be in trouble.

Jason Kidd's next-man-up mentality has worked thus far, but it can't be relied upon as a long-term solution. Players get tired, luck runs out, and the big dogs come out to play once April, May, and June roll around.

This doesn't mean that Dallas can't shock the world and win a playoff series or two, but the odds are stacked against them. Their performance for the rest of the regular season will depend on the direction that they pick, and fans will fully understand their goal once February 5 passes.

Dallas isn't against trading some of their veterans, but they also aren't pushing for it. They understand that their roster is too talented to sink to the bottom of the standings with some of the worst teams in the NBA, and they want to compete.

The Mavericks aren't waiving the white flag yet, and their plan for the trade deadline shows all of that and more.