Mavericks dumped two walking disasters in the Anthony Davis trade

It was the right decision for the Dallas Mavericks to move on from Anthony Davis earlier this month, and moving on from D'Angelo Russell was a stellar move as well. It didn't take long for fans to realize Russell was holding his team back with his inconsistent play. The 11-year veteran quickly fell out of the rotation, with Brandon Williams and Ryan Nembhard earning more playing time by the game.

The Washington Wizards, the team involved in the Davis trade with the Mavs, are making a tough realization about Russell already. It may be a new personal low for Russell in his NBA career, and the Wizards, a rebuilding team, are learning very quickly that Russell may be out of the league soon. His athleticism isn't getting better as he's close to 30, and he hasn't even reported to Washington.

Greg Swartz from Bleacher Report explains perfectly how Davis and Russell are some of the more overrated players in the NBA. Mavs fans may still suffer from PTSD following the Doncic trade, and they don't blame Davis for Nico Harrison's fumble, but moving on from Davis was worth it to bring the fan base back.

Why Dallas had to get rid of Anthony Davis and D'Angelo Russell

As Swartz says, Russell's only All-Star season was a while ago, and he's not even close to coming back to form.

"Now, teams are catching on to what he really is," Swartz says. "A low-efficiency scorer who spends too much time dominating the ball and who's never been a good defender. Even in Russell's lone All-Star season in 2018-19, he shot just 43.4 percent overall."

For the Mavericks to have two overrated players, at least according to Swartz, was bad enough, but Davis being overrated may mean that his best days are fully behind him. Four years ago, Davis might've been a top 10 player in the league, but numerous injuries over the years have moved him far away from any top 10 list, and it's nowhere close for that matter.

It seemed easy for the Mavs fans to move on from Davis.

Even if he did have a fiery start in his Mavs debut last season, his injury in his first game said everything fans needed to see. After that, it wasn't long until Davis started to suffer multiple injuries. It became clear that Davis had to go. The Mavs, at least Harrison, trusted Davis to get the job done, but he failed massively.

Russell was supposed to be the veteran point guard to take care of duties until Kyrie Irving returned to action.

It wasn't long until Nembhard and Williams were discovered as the guards who should get more minutes. Williams worked his way from the ground up to become a fearless driver. Nembhard has proven to be an underrated passer, along with being an impressive long-range shooter. Russell's departure was only a matter of time because the Mavs have clearly found their young guards of the future.

The Wizards are a team still soul-searching for their future, and they have yet to see Trae Young play a game for them. Davis will miss the rest of the season with a hand injury, and it seems the Mavs made the right move in general to get rid of two overrated players.