NBA writer admits Mavericks must make this controversial move now

With the Dallas Mavericks not likely going anywhere this season, the goal needs to be simple: Tank for a favorable lottery pick. The Mavs don't need to rush Kyrie Irving back, and with injuries to Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, it's not going to be enough to make the playoffs.

This is only the first part of the plan, but the next part is important to the Mavs' franchise for years to come. After 2026, Dallas doesn't fully control their first-round pick until 2031. With the team they have now, they have a prime opportunity to grab some first-round picks in a trade this season.

Davis is the most talked-about Maverick involved in trade talks this season. There are several packages that have been proposed and speculated about by fans and media, but the best might come from the Charlotte Hornets with Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton. It would also involve the Mavs' 2027 first-round pick that Charlotte owns from the P.J. Washington trade. Either way, the plan should be crystal clear. Just ride out the season as smoothly as possible and accept it's a gap year.

Mavericks should wave the white flag on the 2025-26 season

CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn echoes the same mentality of the NBA's best right now. The best teams now in their respective conferences have tanked for the best. Look at the Oklahoma City Thunder from four years ago. They were among the laughingstocks of the league until they drafted Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams to pair with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"Look at the best teams in the NBA. OKC tanked. Houston tanked. Detroit tanked. San Antonio tanked. Cleveland tanked," Quinn said when talking about the Mavs' need to tank. "You can take the high road or you can position yourself to actually compete with them."

This is what most fans want for Dallas. If luck falls their way again, they could get up to the top five of the draft to get someone like BYU's AJ Dybantsa. He would be perfect next to Cooper Flagg, making for a tall, athletic lineup. This type of pick would kick off the Flagg era in style, and they'd give themselves a much better shot at landing this great of a player in the draft if they lean into tanking.

That's the key.

The Mavericks aren't going to be building around Davis anyway. He's got way too many injuries to worry about, and it already feels like Flagg has taken the torch that used to belong to Luka Doncic. Some still might say that Irving is the leader, and while he's the veteran leader of this team, Flagg's time is now.

The Mavs can also trade other veterans like Klay Thompson, who has become content with coming off the bench. Fans will be fine with trading Thompson to wherever he goes, as he's quickly become loyal to the Mavericks since he was signed. Even if he goes back to the Golden State Warriors, fans will be satisfied to see him wherever he's happy and competing for a title.

Gafford has been dealing with injury since before the season, and maybe if he were his normal, dominant self, he wouldn't be in the middle of trade talks. Without his dominance, the Mavs wouldn't have gotten to the NBA Finals in 2024. Gafford may be worth a young player or expiring contracts, and possibly a first-round pick in the future.

Fans remember the horrific injury bug that struck last season. That hasn't really stopped much, and fans feel numb about what has become the new normal. The only thing that would fix it is to look forward to the future and land some future draft capital. It's up to Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi to follow through and initiate a tank, and time will tell if they do.