Nico Harrison claims Mavericks just dodged a massive Anthony Davis nightmare

The Dallas Mavericks are less than a week into their 2025 offseason, and there has already been tons of new intel reported ever since Dallas lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament on Friday night. Dallas' situation has only gotten worse when it comes to what fans, media, and players around the league think of them, and recent leaks aren't doing Nico Harrison any favors when intensely analyzing the Luka Doncic trade and other moves over the last few years.

From the cold-blooded and heartless details of Harrison's firing of Casey Smith to the dysfunction within the Mavericks' medical team from this past season and more, Mavericks fans have learned more negative things about what went down inside the walls of the organization than they are comfortable with. The 2024-25 season was a disaster on and off the floor, from what has been reported, but Harrison attempted to ignite some promise and optimism into the fan base on Monday during his end-of-season press conference, whether fans like it or not.

While Harrison frustrated fans with his comments about not understanding how much Doncic meant to the fan base, he also seemed confident in the team's future, regardless of how bad things look right now. Harrison thinks that the Mavericks will be competing for a title next season, and Anthony Davis is going to be a crucial part of that journey.

Nico Harrison reveals Mavericks avoided major Anthony Davis scare

Harrison continued to double down on his "defense wins championships" mindset, and he spoke glowingly of Davis and the belief that he has in him whenever he had the chance. He clearly values Davis at an unbelievably high level, considering he traded Doncic for him, and from what he said on Monday, it sounds like the Mavericks dodged a major catastrophe when it comes to Davis' offseason endeavors.

Harrison said that Davis will not need surgery on his adductor this summer during his press conference on Monday when asked about it, and this is great news for the Mavericks since Kyrie Irving is already set to miss the entire offseason after tearing his ACL at the beginning of last month.

Davis having surgery would have limited the amount of time he can prepare for next season by a large margin, and Harrison saying this puts the fear of Davis missing significant time this summer to rest.

Mavericks fans were terrified when Davis went down with an adductor strain in his debut with the team on February 8 against the Houston Rockets, and while he returned at the end of March despite some from within the organization wanting to shut him down, there were some games where he only looked like a shell of himself. You truly never knew what you were going to get from Davis over the 10 games he played in at the end of the season (including the postseason), and while he had some huge games, including his 40-point masterclass against the Grizzlies in the play-in, he also had some games where he looked unengaged and seemed to be laboring some sort of injury.

Even with Davis dominating against Memphis, he looked to have suffered several injuries throughout this game that looked like they were going to keep him out for the remainder of the game, but he stayed in the game and gave it his all until the final buzzer sounded. He was clearly dealing with pain in this game, as the medical team was constantly working on him on the bench, and once the game concluded, Mavericks fans' fear of him needing offseason surgery immediately reappeared.

For the time being, it sounds like Mavericks fans can relax when it comes to Davis' health, as Harrison confirmed that he won't need surgery as he finished the season strong.

Time will tell if Harrison's bold answer to that question in the press conference holds true though, and the Mavericks' offseason fate will depend on it.