The Dallas Mavericks have been without Anthony Davis for nine straight games including Sunday night’s matchup against the Portland Trailblazers. Pending the outcome of that game, Dallas is 1-7 without him
(2-3 in the five games he played).
On October 29th, Davis injured his left calf in what ended up being a 107-105 win over the Indiana Pacers. Since that time, the Mavs have been on a big skid, fired Nico Harrison and were relatively silent regarding a return timetable for Davis. That is until Shams Charania dropped an update that Davis would remain on the sidelines for at least another 7-10 days.
As mentioned, Dallas has not fared well without Davis, although they weren’t exactly a juggernaut with him either. His absence is a plus for those hoping to accumulate losses with the aim to get another high draft pick so they build in earnest around Cooper Flagg. There is also a 10,000 pound elephant in the room that stretches beyond Davis’ immediate availability – his only value as a trade centerpiece comes if he is actually healthy and able to play in a potential new destination.
Dallas is at the bottom of the league standings and rushing Davis back comes with far more risks than rewards. If the team intends to make a run to the Playoffs, rushing him back only to get injured again is foolish. If the team intends to package him and begin some level of rebuild, rushing him back is equally foolish as the team needs to showcase him healthy to maximize return.
This concept leads us to an interesting topic that is seemingly not being talked about enough. Per Tim MacMahon, Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont had to step in to keep Davis from returning too early. Apparently, former GM Nico Harrison was urging Davis to return to action on November 8 against the Washington Wizards. Likely sensing his seat’s temperature increasing at a rapid rate, Harrison was likely desperate to get some wins.
The parallels to the Luka Doncic trade are as eerie as they are notable. Harrison stopped at nothing to systematically remove Doncic allies before removing Doncic himself in one of the most controversial trades in the history of the NBA. At that time, Dumont, the naïve new owner trusting his top lieutenant, willingly signed off. Here, Harrison once again was willing to stop at nothing to get what he wanted, even if that meant Davis potentially incurring a serious long-term injury. The difference this time was that Dumont wasn’t playing along and has since insistent that he see solid medical evidence clearing Davis, a huge departure from the disastrous injury management of last season.
The Harrison era in Dallas is over, but this dubious endcap is still noteworthy. Perhaps as a former athlete himself, Harrison simply had the mentality of getting a player back on the court no matter the cost. Perhaps he was shockingly sinister beyond the offense of the Doncic trade and willing to do anything to preserve his station by rushing Davis back. If so, to think he would potentially sacrifice the guy he wanted so badly, is a bizarre circumstance indeed. Also, Dumont no longer sitting idly by, even if only on a one-off situation like this, is somewhat reassuring. The Cooper Flagg era cannot be marred with horrific injury management and irresponsible behavior.
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