Dallas Mavericks star forward/center Anthony Davis has been at the center of trade talks all season. Cooper Flagg has blossomed faster than anyone expected, despite being the first overall pick, and that has the team needing to prioritize his timeline. This is the last year that the Mavericks control their first-round pick, and Anthony Davis isn’t getting any younger, cheaper, or more durable.
Trying to find teams interested in Anthony Davis may be a challenge, though. He’s playing at a really high level, especially recently, but Rich Paul (his agent, CEO of Klutch Sports) will want an extension for him, and he’s already making a lot of money for someone who can rarely stay healthy.
The Toronto Raptors have expressed some “exploratory” interest, and now Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints believes the Atlanta Hawks are kicking around the idea.
“Although the Hawks have explored and discussed a potential path to pursuing Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis, there has been no movement on this front, sources said,” Siegel wrote.
“Trading Porzingis, given his health problems, and finding another frontcourt option to pair with Okongwu is certainly an option at this time for Atlanta. But rival teams in both conferences don’t think the Hawks would sacrifice the assets and Porzingis’ expiring deal for Davis. Instead, many around the NBA expect them to make a marginal move if they want to move on from Porzingis, which leads to the idea of a potential trade with Chicago.”
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What Would a Mavericks/Hawks Trade Look Like, And Is It Worth It?
Anthony Davis, in a back-to-back, put up 35 points and 17 rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, then followed it up with 31 points and 9 rebounds against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. He’s playing extremely well, and that’s why the Mavericks are finding success against good teams.
Dallas wants to see Davis and Cooper Flagg play with Kyrie Irving, once he returns from injury, before they make any decisions on trading the big man, but they also recognize how important it is to build around Cooper Flagg and to make sure they can add future young players around him.
And the issue with the Hawks is that a package of Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kennard has a total salary of about $41.7 million, which is $13 million short of Davis’ salary. They do have some space below that apron as it sits now, but sending out those two would leave them with about $1.7 million below the allowable income, per Spotrac. If you try to re-route another player (such as Keaton Wallace) to a team like the Brooklyn Nets from Atlanta, then they’re only left with 12 players on the roster, and they may not have enough space to sign someone else.
So, this begs the question of what they’d do with former first pick Zaccharie Risacher. He has taken a small step down, averaging 11.2 PPG and 2.8 RPG on mediocre shooting splits. Is there a world where they’d move on from him already for Anthony Davis? Even if they do, the Mavericks likely wouldn’t get a first-round pick back with this package, but here’s what that could look like.
Mavericks Receive: Zaccharie Risacher, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kennard, 2031 second-round pick (via ATL)
Hawks Receive: Anthony Davis, Caleb Martin
Brooklyn Nets Receive: Dante Exum, 2026 second-round pick (via Boston, from Atlanta)
Even looking at it, that feels like a lot for the Hawks to give up. They’d probably push to get Naji Marshall instead of Caleb Martin, as Martin has been one of the worst players in the NBA this year, and maybe the Mavericks could get a few seconds instead, but Marshall has been really great, especially as of late. They won’t want to give him up if they can.
For the Mavericks, they’d get $41.7 million in expiring contracts that would come off the books (which is badly needed), add a young player with some potential in Risacher, and get off the contracts of Davis and Martin. That’s $68 million no longer being paid next year, and even adding in Risacher’s, that’s $55 million that they wouldn’t have to worry about anymore, and they’re currently projected to be around $8 million over the first apron next year. This trade would knock them $47 million below, which is plenty of space to operate next year.
Atlanta would acquire Davis with some juice still in the tank, giving them a legitimate big three of Davis, Trae Young, and Jalen Johnson, while still having solid other players like Onyeka Okongwu, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, and Vit Krejci.
Brooklyn gets a pick that will end up in the high 40s/low 50s for taking on an injured player on a minimum contract who they could waive, which makes space for the Mavericks to bring in all three players.
This trade sits on borderline ridiculous, as it feels like both the Mavericks and Hawks lose the deal somehow. So, this probably won’t happen.
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