Why trading for Anthony Davis would be a colossal mistake for the Charlotte Hornets

Everybody is talking about the Charlotte Hornets.

As Charles Lee and company rack up wins, chatter will increase about the Hornets' willingness to make a splash before next month's NBA trade deadline. One NBA analyst believes that Charlotte should make a move for Anthony Davis -- the oft-injured, well-compensated, über-talented big man in Dallas.

For a few reasons, I believe Charlotte should stay far, far away from a potential Davis trade.

1. Davis' exorbitant contract and impending extension

Almost every move that Jeff Peterson has swung during his time running basketball operations in Charlotte has been made to maximize flexibility. In the trade market specifically, the Hornets have made shrewd moves around the margins to accumulate future draft capital while maintaining a clean cap sheet in years to come.

Trading for a player of Davis' stature would be antithetical to Charlotte's long-term plan.

Davis, a 10-time NBA All-Star, is owed $54M in 2026, $58.4M in 2026-27, with a player option worth a whopping $62M in 2027-28 that he will undoubtedly pick up if he doesn't ink the extension he is eligible for come August.

LaMelo Ball makes $40M a year, Brandon Miller is extension-eligible this summer, and the bill for Charlotte's impressive 2025 rookie class will come due soon too.

Committing that much money to Davis, if not more over a longer period of time depending on a potential extension, to an oft-injured player is the type of move that epitomizes the term 'high-risk, high-reward.' Especially in the NBA's second apron era.

Which brings us to our next point...

2. Davis' injury history is horrifying

Since getting traded to the Mavericks last February, Davis has only played a total of 29 games.

Since winning an NBA championship with the Lakers in 2019-2020, Davis has played the following number of games in each season: 36, 40, 56, 76, 51, and 20 of Dallas' 43 in their current campaign. He's made almost $1M per game played since he signed a five-year, $189M contract with Los Angeles in 2020 that led to the extension he is currently playing on.

Anthony Davis is a generational talent. A top ten defense unto himself when he's at his best. The type of offensive mismatch that bends opposing defenses to his will with a rare combination of size, mobility, and skill.

Remember his last full game as a member of the Lakers? When he hung 42 points and 23 rebounds on Mark Williams and the Charlotte Hornets? You trade the farm for that guy.

The problem is that guy doesn't exist on a nightly basis anymore.

Making this hypothetical, rash, win-now move to accelerate their rebuild could lead to some short-term success for the Hornets. Replacing Miles Bridges with a healthy Anthony Davis puts Charlotte in rarified air in the Eastern Conference; up among the elites. The Hornets have one of the league's hottest offenses, and Davis could singlehandedly shore up their often porous defense.

However, you better win with him right away, because there is no telling when the other shoe will drop with Davis. His lengthy injury history is terrifying.

Imagine Charlotte trades a haul of assets for Davis, they ink him to a long-term extension, and then he suffers another injury that keeps him out for more than half a season? He's not getting any younger. It would be an abject disaster.

Building the foundation of your roster on superstars with questions about their availability is a dangerous proposition. Trading for Davis and pairing him with LaMelo Ball, who has struggled with injury concerns of his own, is tempting fate in a way that those who believe in karma would shy away from.

Sam Quinn of CBS Sports laid out an articulate argument for Charlotte to make this move. And, frankly, I do agree with a number of his points.

Here is Quinn's proposal.

Mavericks receive: Miles Bridges, Josh Green, Grant Williams, Pat Connaughton, Mason Plumlee, 2027 first-round pick (via Mavericks)

Hornets receive: Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, D'Angelo Russell

Everything Quinn says about the basketball fit: Charlotte's need to add premier talent around their young stars, and the importance of signaling that the franchise is ready to win; are all valid. However, he doesn't say a word about Davis' lack of availability -- the elephant in the room for any war room discussing a trade for the once-generational superstar.

The time for the Charlotte Hornets to cash in on their burgeoning treasure trove of assets is coming, but the Davis sweepstakes is one they should sit out of. The NBA trade landscape is ever-evolving, and there is no telling which superstar will ask out next.

Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bam Adebayo are two names I have my eye on for Charlotte to trade for as soon as this summer. Those two are younger, more available, cheaper (contractually speaking), and equally as effective as Davis at this point in their careers.

If the Hornets are looking to make a big swing, the odds they whiff on Davis are much greater than another star of his ilk.

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