Mavericks next trade is painfully obvious after brutal Anthony Davis news

The latest Anthony Davis injury news has put the Dallas Mavericks in a very tough position. Davis could potentially miss months of action due to a ligament issue in his left hand, and that could prevent the Mavs from trading him by the deadline, which was reportedly part of their plans this season.

If that is the case, and the Mavs can’t trade Davis by the deadline this season, then their new goal should be very clear: Trade veterans for young players and/or expiring contracts. The Mavs should be looking to do everything they can to optimize their future around Cooper Flagg.

And that means making any possible trades to get off long-term money they don’t like and trading veterans that don’t fit Flagg’s timeline.

Mavericks should shift trade focus to veterans after Anthony Davis news

Obviously, the ideal scenario for the Mavericks would be to trade Davis at the deadline this season. Even if they could get decent value for him, it would put them in a better position moving forward.

Davis has played well for the Mavericks this season when he’s been healthy. But given his age and massive contract, Dallas would probably be better off with a clean slate to build around Flagg.

But teams likely won’t be kicking down the Mavericks’ doors to trade for a guy who may not play much more this season. The hand injury could mean the Mavericks can’t trade Davis until the summer.

Because of that, the Mavs need to shift gears. Obviously, they were always going to have plenty of interest in moving guys like Klay Thompson, Caleb Martin, and potentially even Daniel Gafford.

Martin has virtually no value at this point. The Mavs would probably have to attach assets to him in a trade in order to offload his contract.

By now, Thompson probably doesn’t have much value, either. The right team could be interested in bringing him on board as a bench shooter, but even then, the Mavs probably wouldn’t get much back.

Gafford, on the other hand, could garner some decent value for Dallas if they find the right trade partner. Despite being out for the rest of the season, Dereck Lively II looks like the center of the future in Dallas, so trading Gafford for the right value might not be a terrible idea.

At the very least, anyone on the roster whom the Mavs don’t see as a definite part of their future, or at least a potential part of it, should be available for trade.

Everything Dallas does now should be about optimizing the Flagg era.

That means checking the trade value around the league for all of their veterans, and maybe even guys like Gafford, Naji Marshall, and others.