NBA insider crushes Mavericks fans' Anthony Davis trade dream

Dallas Mavericks fans have known for weeks that the team could be shopping Anthony Davis ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, but perhaps Dallas' best suitor for a Davis trade in the Detroit Pistons doesn't seem to be a plausible landing spot for the 32-year-old big man any longer. In an episode on the "DLLS Mavs Podcast", NBA insider Marc Stein posited Detroit's interest in Davis has been "vastly overstated."

Mavericks fans have been lauding Detroit as a potential trade partner for Davis because of the young talent they could theoretically give back to Dallas, such as Jaden Ivey and Ron Holland II. Most mock Davis-to-Detroit trades have used Tobias Harris' salary as the main piece to make the money work on both sides, but it seems unlikely Dallas would draw any players back from Detroit at this point.

From the Pistons' perspective, it always seemed confusing why they'd want to pair two non-shooting big men together in Davis and Jalen Duren, as the Pistons have had a ton of success with their current model, leading the Eastern Conference with a 21-5 record. Duren is an extremely talented young center, and while he may be able to shoot threes consistently one day, Detroit has already seen how Davis being paired with another non-shooting big in Dallas has gone so far.

An Anthony Davis to Detroit trade doesn't sound likely anymore

There's no point in Detroit minimizing Duren's impact or jeopardizing their current model of success by inserting Davis and trading away young assets for him, so it comes as no surprise that Stein thinks they aren't nearly as interested in Davis as many fans and analysts originally thought. For fans still hoping for this possibility, Stein at least didn't outright negate the possibility of a Davis trade to Detroit, but it seems increasingly unlikely based on his reporting and the aforementioned factors.

The only other two suitors for Davis at this point seem like the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors, though Stein listed the Hawks as a team whose interest in Davis is more exploratory compared to Toronto. There's still plenty of time ahead of the deadline, and the Mavericks still haven't made a clear stance on whether they even want to trade Davis or not, at least not publicly.

A Davis trade, or lack thereof, will hinge on how he and the team fare in the coming weeks, as has been written on this site countless times at this point.

This is a fluid situation, so it isn't surprising to see a team like Detroit bounce out of the early trade rumors surrounding Davis, as they are in a position to make a win-now move considering how successful they've been, but it would likely be something more around the margins, given they already have the best record in the East.

Dallas' best case to prove to the Pistons they could still use Davis will be tonight at the American Airlines Center, as Dallas will take on the Pistons, and team executives from both sides will likely be present at the game.

Potential conversations over a Davis trade could start to brew amongst Dallas and Detroit front office members tonight, but Davis is currently questionable with a left calf contusion, so while Davis could theoretically have a dress rehearsal type of game if he plays versus the Pistons and does well, him not playing could be the nail in the coffin for any possibility of him going to the Pistons.