Mavericks must contend with $89 million Anthony Davis dilemma

Billy Heyen

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Mavericks must contend with $89 million Anthony Davis dilemma image

The Dallas Mavericks traded for Anthony Davis just about a year ago.

The whole endeavor would've been more exciting if the trade didn't require Luka Doncic to go to the Los Angeles Lakers. It altered the entire future of the Mavs.

Now, Dallas is contending with the fact that Davis can't stay on the floor and is getting paid a lot of money to be on the sideline.

According to a new article from Stephen Noh of AllSportsPeople, Davis has the fifth-worst contract in the entire NBA.

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Using a statistical model, Davis is shown to be worth $86.4 million over the length of his current three-year contract, but he's being paid $175.4 million, a negative difference of $89 million.

"Davis is still at an All-Star level at the age of 32," Noh begins. "He's one of the best defenders in the league when locked in. His contract is an albatross though because he never plays full seasons. He's played in only 20 games this season after managing 51 last year. Penciling him in for 55 games seems optimistic at this point."

The most interesting part of the Davis conundrum is that another team still might want him in a trade.

If that happens, the Mavs manage to get this expensive problem off their plate.

"Some team is going to convince themselves that they can do what nobody else has and get a full season out of him," Noh writes. "That team is going to make a bad trade for a player whose production doesn't come close to being the fifth-highest paid player in the league."

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At least based on how Noh sells it, the Mavs should happily take a trade offer for Davis, especially before he gets seriously injured again.

Dallas is better off building around Cooper Flagg. If they can turn Davis into someone else's problem, all the better.

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