Lakers’ Anthony Davis Trade Rumor: Should Mavs Be Interested?

With a poor start to the Lakers' season, Anthony Davis trade rumors are heating up again. Should the Mavs be interested, or would trading for Davis repeat previous mistakes?

Before the 2022-23 NBA season began, trade rumors were already swirling around the Los Angeles Lakers and their failed project with Russell Westbrook. 

But after a 2-7 start, it's another Lakers star that is being discussed in trade rumors. 

On Sunday's episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast", Bill Simmons dropped a little nugget that there's some “buzz” about Davis' availability. 

“There’s some buzz, some buzzing that AD might be available,” said Simmons. “That that’s a Plan B. Because the Westbrook trade, or whatever they think they can get for Westbrook and whether you want to give up future assets, maybe that doesn’t even make sense because what are you getting if you’re the Lakers?"

If the Lakers ultimately decide that moving Davis is their best plan of action moving forward, should the Dallas Mavericks be interested?

Davis, who is averaging 22.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game, would immediately become the best player that Luka Doncic has ever been teamed up with. AD would be a force in the pick-and-roll with Doncic, and he’d become the new defensive anchor for coach Jason Kidd.

As good of a fit as Davis would be in Dallas, would acquiring another injury-riddled big man end up being a Kristaps Porzingis 2.0 situation for the Mavericks? Porzingis had his moments in Dallas, but he was simply never able to stay healthy. Davis has played in just 84 games dating back to the start of the 2020-21 season.

Simmons and Kevin O'Connor briefly mentioned the Mavericks as a potential trade partner for the Lakers, where Dallas could send Christian Wood, Reggie Bullock, and two future first-round picks. To make that trade work, the Mavericks would need to add in another contract of at least $7.4M. 

For the Lakers, they can likely find a much more favorable trade elsewhere that contains not just young rotation pieces but better future draft picks, ala the New York Knicks. For Davis, as Simmons noted, going from Los Angeles to another big market could be something he prefers, like New York or his hometown of Chicago.

Overall for the Mavericks, the prospect of adding a star like AD alongside Doncic is easy to salivate at, and it’s the type of star opportunity Dallas has been waiting for. But the lengthy injury history for Davis, paired with the fact that a potential trade would be one that affects depth and future draft capital, makes the idea of trading for him one that Nico Harrison and company would have to seriously weigh before calling it in.

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