With the NBA trade deadline wrapped up, a lot of fans are feeling satisfied for what they got out of their franchises. The Dallas Mavericks faithful, on the other hand, seem to have certain doubts about trading away Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards. Well, this disparity in opinions might start to reach a resolution as Dirk Nowitzki gave his thoughts on the huge front office move and explained why it would be good to fully invest in Cooper Flagg.
Dallas legend wants to go all-in on Flagg
The Davis trade spanned nine players and three teams which shows how difficult it was to part with him. In return, the Mavericks are getting Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Tyus Jones, Marvin Bagley III, a 2026 first-round pick via the Oklahoma City Thunder, a 2030 first-round pick via the Golden State Warriors, and three future second-round picks via the Washington Wizards.
A lot of these will turn into assets that the Mavericks could use to build around Flagg. This is exactly why Nowitzki thinks this trade is what the squad needed but it comes with some personal gripes as well, via NBA on Prime.
“I’ll tell you one thing, I think Mavs fans are happy with this. I think they didn’t want to be reminded of what happened a year ago in the Luka trade. So to me, looking at this deal at first glance there’s not a lot that came back, picks or player-wise. This is all really about financial flexibility for the future,” Nowitzki said.
Davis only got to play 29 games for the Mavericks. He averaged 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, alongside 1.8 blocks and nearly a steal per game. Nowitzki’s gripe comes from the fact that the 10-time All-Star’s time with Flagg was so short. They only got to share the court on 20 games to be exact.
“I’m a little disappointed, I think when AD actually played with Cooper, they played off each other really, really well. But we’ll never know. What this ultimately is now is build around Cooper, go young. See what the next year brings with the draft this summer. Ultimately now, they’re all in on Cooper Flagg and his future,” the Mavericks legend added.
As of the moment, the Mavericks currently sit at 12th in the Western Conference standings with only 19 wins. It does not look like a playoff push is coming in the 2025-26 season so hopefully they use the assets of the Davis trade to good use in the offseason.
