MAVS NEWS:

[FireNicoHarrison]

He is really a soft budino

[Smitty]

@TheSteinLine
The Mavericks will seek a hand specialist’s opinion on the extent of the damage to Anthony Davis’ left hand, but league sources confirm tonight that their fears of ligament damage from the injury sustained in Utah appear to have been validated. Davis is out for an unknown period.

[JamesConway912]

They played him because the franchise is indecisive and lacks any semblance of leadership.

This

[KillerLeft]

@TheSteinLine
The Mavericks will seek a hand specialist’s opinion on the extent of the damage to Anthony Davis’ left hand, but league sources confirm tonight that their fears of ligament damage from the injury sustained in Utah appear to have been validated. Davis is out for an unknown period.

Yep, that's not great for anyone involved.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Yeah, if it requires surgery, it officially becomes bad news. Let's hope it isn't that bad. If it ends up just being an excuse to hold him out of games until he gets to his new team, I can see that being a positive.

Who's going to be foolish enough to trade for him? He hurts himself getting out of bed.

[MavericksFan]

Who's going to be foolish enough to trade for him? He hurts himself getting out of bed.

Mavericks was foolish enough to trade for Davis, it was the worst trade the Mavericks ever made!

[cow]

Mavericks was foolish enough to trade for Davis, it was the worst trade the Mavericks ever made!

Worst trade in league history.

[Benskix2]

Even if you think Davis is 100% right now, there is a very low chance of him staying 100% for more than 30 days based on his career.  The chance that he does something on the court to improve his value is soooo much smaller than the chance that he looks worse than people remember or injures himself that it isn't at all worth the risk.  We need to move him as soon as possible.

11/12/25

[F Gump]

This is not good news.  It potentially kills any TDL trade ...

I'm certainly not glad to see AD get hurt, but it does have plenty of upside.  

Some of us were not in a panic to desperately trade AD by the TDL, so that part only causes a shrug. 

And the door being opened (by the expectation that both Kyrie and AD won't be playing) to a full-blown tank (and the much better pick that represents) is GREAT news imo. Mavs are currently in 8th slot, and with some effort could easily end up in 4th/5th. (They were needing to string together a couple of sizable losing streaks at some point.) In a practical sense, this could end up being the avenue to a top 2026 pick that had previously been dependent on ATL getting AD - now they can get that pick, PLUS they can trade him later (or keep him) to have even more value.

[F Gump]

Literally the only trade I can think of that will bring anything back to Dallas for Klay is Kuminga. That´s cause GS loves Klay and hates Kuminga. 

I like Klay. I am not a fan of Kuminga. But if I'm the Mavs, I would certainly entertain Klay, for Kuminga and a pick. 

The tricky part is that both teams are A2 hard capped, close to A2, neither can take back more salary than they send (within 100K), and both have full rosters. So the salary match would be hard because it has to be almost exact.

I see one way to make such a trade fit the rules. It would utilize existing TE. 
1 GS waives a player (or trades a player for a pick, as a 3rd team in the trade) to open up a roster slot. The Mavs could not take the player themselves because of the A2 hard cap on them. 
2 Then ...
Kuminga and a pick 
FOR
Klay and Hardy

[FireNicoHarrison]

People acting like we need to improve our roster ASAP but it's the opposite... We need a good pick this year.

[Chicagojk]

Cisse has been active for a lot of games despite not playing. Him being on a two way is concerning as it would be nice to get a good long look at him. I think he is a far way away but he plays so hard. He has earned that two way spot. Time will tell if he can be something more. We may be getting a bunch of Dwight minutes. I hope they take advantage of the games Cisse has left and just don’t have him on the bench wasting his games he can suit up.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6959049...raft-pick/


Very unlikely AD gets moved by the TDL. It'll probably happen during the summer, if at all. This latest injury lowers his trade value even more.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

AD at today's shoot around in Chicago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ykFmpQBks

[mvossman]

I'm certainly not glad to see AD get hurt, but it does have plenty of upside.  

Some of us were not in a panic to desperately trade AD by the TDL, so that part only causes a shrug. 

And the door being opened (by the expectation that both Kyrie and AD won't be playing) to a full-blown tank (and the much better pick that represents) is GREAT news imo. Mavs are currently in 8th slot, and with some effort could easily end up in 4th/5th. (They were needing to string together a couple of sizable losing streaks at some point.) In a practical sense, this could end up being the avenue to a top 2026 pick that had previously been dependent on ATL getting AD - now they can get that pick, PLUS they can trade him later (or keep him) to have even more value.

Folks in a "panic" to trade him expected something like this would happen sooner rather than later.  I don't know why you think he can keep getting injured and it wont effect his trade value.  His level of play has already declined and his games missed due to injury has skyrocketed.  Those are extremely concerning trends for a player his age (especially a big player).  Your plan of trading talent for talent was already highly unlikely, and its even less likely now.  We will see when the time comes, but my prediction is his ultimate trade package is going to be closer to salary relief than equal talent.

[windjc]

People wanting the NO pick now angry that our pick will be better. lol.

You can’t make this stuff up.

[mvossman]

People acting like we need to improve our roster ASAP but it's the opposite... We need a good pick this year.

Nobody cares about improving this season's roster.  They care about improving future rosters when Flagg is in his prime.  That means guys in their early 20s, not guys in their 30s.  There were a lot of advantages to moving AD by the TDL to achieve that goal.  The potential cap relief was huge and likely not available in the summer, and there was always the looming danger of a significant injury tanking his value further.  I would not be surprised if his trade value never reaches what it was the night Trae was traded.  He is getting older and more expensive as time goes by and if he ends up missing the rest of the season I don't think he will ever fully recover his value.

[mvossman]

People wanting the NO pick now angry that our pick will be better. lol.

You can’t make this stuff up.

I think you just did.  Its not like this team couldn't tank after AD was traded for salary filler and picks.  An AD trade would have had the same impact on tanking as an AD injury.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Nobody cares about improving this season's roster.  They care about improving future rosters when Flagg is in his prime.  That means guys in their early 20s, not guys in their 30s.  There were a lot of advantages to moving AD by the TDL to achieve that goal.  The potential cap relief was huge and likely not available in the summer, and there was always the looming danger of a significant injury tanking his value further.  I would not be surprised if his trade value never reaches what it was the night Trae was traded.  He is getting older and more expensive as time goes by and if he ends up missing the rest of the season I don't think he will ever fully recover his value.

But next summer there no good FA. We don't need cap space.

Are we over the 2nd apron? Ok, it's a Dumont problem. He traded Doncic so he will pay.

[mvossman]

But next summer there no good FA. We don't need cap space.

Are we over the 2nd apron? Ok, it's a Dumont problem. He traded Doncic so he will pay.

That's not how it works.  If Dumont does not want to pay the tax, he wont pay the tax.  He will send out assets to shed cap if he has to. 

Its not just the tax either.  We can't trade for players like Coby White or Mathurin who are expecting bigger contracts.  We won't have the room.

There are significant negatives to being over the aprons, its not just about the tax.

The goal is not to have cap space (they would have to shed a ton for that), but it would be nice to use the full MLE exception.  You can find quality in that range if you do it right (like Naji last offseason).