MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

It is pretty comical that it went to AD tried to come back into the game, then day to day, then Nico and AD wanting to play, and then here we are.

Personally, I hope this time also includes some conditioning ramp up.   Sort of preseason all over again.

My guess is (and that's all it is, a considered guess) is that "conditioning ramp up" is EXACTLY the reason for the sudden add to the length of his rehab time.

[Chicagojk]

saw this on the Lakers reddit board from an article a few days ago:


There were moments in the preseason where we wondered if he had even worked out at all in the summer,” one team source who was granted anonymity to speak freely said of Davis entering the 2024-25 season. “He would come back, go through warmups, and then either sit out to be with the training staff or basically half-ass what the team was doing.
“When he first got here, that wasn't the case. He was always wanting to go above and beyond, and he was one of the first in the gym, last out of it. Over the years, that changed, and he almost became content in a way. It was clear he was out of shape and didn't seem to care what the higher-ups were telling him. Something definitely changed.”
Between worries about Davis' offseason conditioning, commitment, and ability to become the “alpha” of the team once LeBron was ready to move on, Pelinka and the Lakers began making calls to some teams in December 2024, multiple sources said.
In fact, one source from an Eastern Conference team who was present for these conversations about Davis and the Lakers claimed they were “laughable” at first because they didn't believe for a second that Davis was truly available.
“When AD (Anthony Davis) was the name that came up, we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘Yeah, okay.' But the conversation was actually serious, and things began shifting to the point where they were seriously wanting to know whether we would be interested. That's as far as it got. We kept all of it in-house to make sure that opportunity didn't disappear, whether it be at the deadline or in the offseason.
“Little did we know, they did the same thing with Nico and the Mavs, and obviously nobody was going to beat a Luka deal.”
Of the teams that the Lakers spoke with when they were first putting out feelers for Davis, the Boston Celtics held a couple of calls with Los Angeles, sources said. Nothing ever progressed to where there was any actual momentum, but Los Angeles was receiving signals that Brad Stevens and his front office were receptive to the idea.
The five-word message the Lakers got back from Boston was enough to let them know they would consider such a move in the summer: “We'll keep it in mind.”
While other teams were rumored to have spoken with the Lakers about Davis in December 2024, these organizations would not be confirmed by either side. Still, there were at least five teams that held dialogue with the Lakers more than once after Los Angeles' initial feeler to discuss Davis and minor details regarding his status.
Two other Eastern Conference teams were also intrigued by the Lakers bringing up Davis' name. These organizations were the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, multiple sources said. Of course, the Lakers were simply putting out feelers for Davis and still didn't have interest in trading him during the 2024-25 season, but Los Angeles was serious about putting together real trade packages in the offseason.
What nobody knew at the time is that when Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks heard about the Lakers gauging early trade interest in Davis for the 2025 offseason, the Mavs' executive immediately contacted Pelinka, whom he has always shared a strong relationship with dating back to Harrison's time as an executive at Nike when Pelinka was Kobe Bryant's agent.
Both Harrison and Pelinka made sure their conversations were secure among a tight-lipped group, which included Lakers' governor Jeanie Buss and new Mavs owner Patrick Dumont.
At no point were others made aware of these advanced trade discussions between the Mavs and Lakers focused on Doncic and Davis until it was all finalized, multiple sources confirmed to ClutchPoints. Not even Paul and Davis knew about Dallas discussing Doncic's future, let alone Davis' time in Los Angeles likely coming to an end after the 2024-25 season.

[WillE]

saw this on the Lakers reddit board from an article a few days ago:


There were moments in the preseason where we wondered if he had even worked out at all in the summer,” one team source who was granted anonymity to speak freely said of Davis entering the 2024-25 season. “He would come back, go through warmups, and then either sit out to be with the training staff or basically half-ass what the team was doing.
“When he first got here, that wasn't the case. He was always wanting to go above and beyond, and he was one of the first in the gym, last out of it. Over the years, that changed, and he almost became content in a way. It was clear he was out of shape and didn't seem to care what the higher-ups were telling him. Something definitely changed.”
Between worries about Davis' offseason conditioning, commitment, and ability to become the “alpha” of the team once LeBron was ready to move on, Pelinka and the Lakers began making calls to some teams in December 2024, multiple sources said.
In fact, one source from an Eastern Conference team who was present for these conversations about Davis and the Lakers claimed they were “laughable” at first because they didn't believe for a second that Davis was truly available.
“When AD (Anthony Davis) was the name that came up, we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘Yeah, okay.' But the conversation was actually serious, and things began shifting to the point where they were seriously wanting to know whether we would be interested. That's as far as it got. We kept all of it in-house to make sure that opportunity didn't disappear, whether it be at the deadline or in the offseason.
“Little did we know, they did the same thing with Nico and the Mavs, and obviously nobody was going to beat a Luka deal.”
Of the teams that the Lakers spoke with when they were first putting out feelers for Davis, the Boston Celtics held a couple of calls with Los Angeles, sources said. Nothing ever progressed to where there was any actual momentum, but Los Angeles was receiving signals that Brad Stevens and his front office were receptive to the idea.
The five-word message the Lakers got back from Boston was enough to let them know they would consider such a move in the summer: “We'll keep it in mind.”
While other teams were rumored to have spoken with the Lakers about Davis in December 2024, these organizations would not be confirmed by either side. Still, there were at least five teams that held dialogue with the Lakers more than once after Los Angeles' initial feeler to discuss Davis and minor details regarding his status.
Two other Eastern Conference teams were also intrigued by the Lakers bringing up Davis' name. These organizations were the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, multiple sources said. Of course, the Lakers were simply putting out feelers for Davis and still didn't have interest in trading him during the 2024-25 season, but Los Angeles was serious about putting together real trade packages in the offseason.
What nobody knew at the time is that when Nico Harrison and the Dallas Mavericks heard about the Lakers gauging early trade interest in Davis for the 2025 offseason, the Mavs' executive immediately contacted Pelinka, whom he has always shared a strong relationship with dating back to Harrison's time as an executive at Nike when Pelinka was Kobe Bryant's agent.
Both Harrison and Pelinka made sure their conversations were secure among a tight-lipped group, which included Lakers' governor Jeanie Buss and new Mavs owner Patrick Dumont.
At no point were others made aware of these advanced trade discussions between the Mavs and Lakers focused on Doncic and Davis until it was all finalized, multiple sources confirmed to ClutchPoints. Not even Paul and Davis knew about Dallas discussing Doncic's future, let alone Davis' time in Los Angeles likely coming to an end after the 2024-25 season.

Well, that changes the story a bit: Nico didn't take the initiative, he just jumped at the Lakers' offer.

[Smitty]

   


Probably not a popular opinion, with the tank crowd revved up, but I always thought the plan was to stay somewhere around 5 games under .500 until Kyrie could make it back. Obviously, anything better was ideal, if Davis could stay healthy and carry the load. IF the return date for Kyrie is around 1 JAN, is it still okay to root for the Mavs to win?!

Could the plan be to keep Davis and see if it works? Him and Kyrie have played one half of basketball together. Personally, I want Davis traded for an impactful guard, but maybe the goal is to use Gafford for that and actually play 48 minutes of Davis/Lively as the lone Big. 

Still, those two are always on the injury report, so it's a bad long-term plan. I could see the Mavs FO wanting to go that direction is all. I have seen ZERO evidence that the Mavs themselves are on team tank. Until then, I'm still going to root for wins... Sigh.

[ThisIStheYear]

I think the Mavs are going to soft tank the road games and try to win at home. They know they’re too talented, even with injuries, to truly bottom out but still want to have some lottery odds. Even the 10th pick in this draft should produce a quality starter.

[mvossman]

Probably not a popular opinion, with the tank crowd revved up, but I always thought the plan was to stay somewhere around 5 games under .500 until Kyrie could make it back. Obviously, anything better was ideal, if Davis could stay healthy and carry the load. IF the return date for Kyrie is around 1 JAN, is it still okay to root for the Mavs to win?!

Could the plan be to keep Davis and see if it works? Him and Kyrie have played one half of basketball together. Personally, I want Davis traded for an impactful guard, but maybe the goal is to use Gafford for that and actually play 48 minutes of Davis/Lively as the lone Big. 

Still, those two are always on the injury report, so it's a bad long-term plan. I could see the Mavs FO wanting to go that direction is all. I have seen ZERO evidence that the Mavs themselves are on team tank. Until then, I'm still going to root for wins... Sigh.

I thought the goal was to be around 500 when Kyrie comes back and that seems very unlikely at this point.  

I don't think they are on team tank but holding out AD for weeks after Nico was ready to put him on the court and rumors regarding the FO working with AD agent strongly suggests a direction change.  We don't know what that is yet, but I doubt its going to be the win at all costs mindset that Nico was in.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4699...tank-draft


Mavs options for the rest of the season.

[Chicagojk]

Respect your fans

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6808181...-harrison/

[Chicagojk]

shadow GM.....Kelly Flagg


https://x.com/kflagg11/status/1990856199676350862

[FireNicoHarrison]

Respect your fans

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6808181...-harrison/

Totally agree

[SleepingHero]

shadow GM.....Kelly Flagg


https://x.com/kflagg11/status/1990856199676350862

Kon would fit very well next to Coop as we saw at Duke.

Now are the Hornets dumb enough to trade Kon for AD?

[Nowitzki Way]

Kon would fit very well next to Coop as we saw at Duke.

Now are the Hornets dumb enough to trade Kon for AD?

We can only dream that she has some inside info on why AD isnt playing. Maybe an AD trade is certain and the Flagg camp is pushing for Kon.

Again thats just a dream. Those never come true.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

We can only dream that she has some inside info on why AD isnt playing. Maybe an AD trade is certain and the Flagg camp is pushing for Kon.

Again thats just a dream. Those never come true.

I agree. Seems like a pipedream to me. They'd be crazy to give up Kon.  Charlotte is already in their rebuild. Dallas has yet to get started. AD absolutely doesn't fit their timeline.

[Chicagojk]

Flagg and Martin may be out tonight with illness

[Nowitzki Way]

Flagg and Martin may be out tonight with illness

Organic Tank. I like it.

[Smitty]

Probably not a popular opinion, with the tank crowd revved up, but I always thought the plan was to stay somewhere around 5 games under .500 until Kyrie could make it back. Obviously, anything better was ideal, if Davis could stay healthy and carry the load. IF the return date for Kyrie is around 1 JAN, is it still okay to root for the Mavs to win?!

Could the plan be to keep Davis and see if it works? Him and Kyrie have played one half of basketball together. Personally, I want Davis traded for an impactful guard, but maybe the goal is to use Gafford for that and actually play 48 minutes of Davis/Lively as the lone Big. 

Still, those two are always on the injury report, so it's a bad long-term plan. I could see the Mavs FO wanting to go that direction is all. I have seen ZERO evidence that the Mavs themselves are on team tank. Until then, I'm still going to root for wins... Sigh.

Mark Cuban says that the Dallas Mavericks will NOT trade Anthony Davis this season, per @joevardon

“We won’t. We want to try to win.”



Could be posturing or it could be what I posted here.

[windjc]

Mark Cuban says that the Dallas Mavericks will NOT trade Anthony Davis this season, per @joevardon

“We won’t. We want to try to win.”



Could be posturing or it could be what I posted here.

The worst possible thing that could happen after Nico leaves is that Cuban gets more power. Please please please sideline this man child.

[Winter]

I'm not sure if Cuban is right or wrong, but I feel certain that the stated opinion should be the message the Mavs convey to the rest of the NBA.

Every other NBA GM knows Davis is available. We don't have to "shop" him at the TD. Maybe another team really wants him, and maybe the Mavs listen if its an interesting proposal, but there's no hurry now to make a Davis trade. Other trades might be more likely. But I think the Mavs are better served getting AD healthy and playing.

[WillE]

The worst possible thing that could happen after Nico leaves is that Cuban gets more power. Please please please sideline this man child.

Well, actually, the worst thing wasn't that Cuban was in charge, but rather that he gave up control. That's what allowed Nico to get us into this situation to begin with. Under Cuban, that would never have happened.

That's why I'm inclined to at least consider that this statement is nothing more than trade communication to increase the pressure on potential AD suitors and ultimately get better offers for him.

[windjc]

Well, actually, the worst thing wasn't that Cuban was in charge, but rather that he gave up control. That's what allowed Nico to get us into this situation to begin with. Under Cuban, that would never have happened.

That's why I'm inclined to at least consider that this statement is nothing more than trade communication to increase the pressure on potential AD suitors and ultimately get better offers for him.

The worst thing about Cuban, other than his small brain, is that he was CHEAP. Have a few billion wasn't enough. Having a sports franchise growing in value exponentially wasn't enough. He wanted to make a profit every year too. 

He HIRED Nico. So don't tell me about how him giving up control was bad.