Kidd confirms Mavericks will make key Anthony Davis tweak Lakers always rejected

The Dallas Mavericks were a part of the biggest trade in NBA history last weekend, as they sent Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie. This was a move that no one expected, and the Mavericks altered NBA history by trading their franchise superstar to the Lakers.

Nico Harrison's reasoning behind trading Doncic includes his conditioning struggles as well as a fear of giving him a supermax extension in the summer, and Mavericks fans are still confused as to how things went down. Harrison involved no one in this process until it was time to make the deal happen, and fans are furious that Dallas did all of this behind Doncic's back.

Doncic is furious with the Mavericks due to the way it all happened, and while this trade was fairly lopsided in the Lakers' favor, Dallas is getting one of the best bigs in the NBA in this deal. Davis is undoubtedly one of the best two-way players in the NBA, and he is excited to get to work alongside Kyrie Irving.

Mavericks will finally grant Davis' long-standing request

While Davis won't play tonight against the Boston Celtics, it sounds like he is set to make his Mavericks debut against the Houston Rockets on Saturday. Davis is set to become the best big the Mavericks have ever had since Dirk Nowitzki, and Jason Kidd is set to make a change to Davis' game that the Lakers refused to make.

Davis pushed hard for the Lakers to acquire a big man during his time in Los Angeles so he could go back to playing power forward, the position that he played when they won the title in 2020, but the Lakers wouldn't do it. He played center all season for the Lakers, but that will change soon.

With Dallas having Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford manning the center spot, it was clear that Davis would get to play plenty of power forward, and Kidd confirmed that on Thursday night.

Kidd said when Dallas is "fully healthy," he plans on starting P.J. Washington at the three, Davis at the four, and Lively II or Gafford at the five. This has to make Davis happy, as the four is his more natural position, and Kidd is going to put him in the best position to succeed.

Kidd was an assistant coach in Los Angeles for two years when Davis was on the team, including the 2019-20 season when they won the title, and they'll look to continue what they built with the Lakers.

Davis playing alongside Gafford or Lively II down low with Washington on the wing is going to make Dallas' defense absolutely elite, and while Davis is going to spend some time at the five as well, him being able to play the four is going to let him bring tons of creativity on offense and show off his versatility on defense.