New Eastern Conference Team Emerges as Possible Trade Contender for Anthony Davis

Liam McKeone | Jan 7, 2026

The Anthony Davis trade sweepstakes seem set to heat up with a month to go before the deadline. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The NBA trade deadline is about a month away and the Anthony Davis sweepstakes could be on the verge of heating up.

The Mavericks’ All-NBA big man has been a prime trade candidate since Dallas fired former GM Nico Harrison. At 32 years old and regularly dealing with injuries, Davis doesn’t seem to fit well into the long-term future of the franchise with Cooper Flagg in the fold. He has struggled to stay on the court this season, appearing in only 19 games so far, but is still a dominant two-way force when he does play; Davis is averaging 20.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game in 2025-26. He’s still a star-caliber player when healthy and as such could fetch a solid return at the deadline, as well as potentially swing the playoff race depending on where he ends up.

To this point no obvious match has emerged for the star big man’s talents, though. The Hawks are the team most often mentioned but since the Mavs don’t seem to have much interest in Trae Young any possible trade becomes tricky to construct. On Wednesday, Sam Amick and Christian Clark of The Athletic published an insider report on the Davis situation and revealed a new Eastern Conference team as a potential destination for Davis: the Raptors.

“The Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors are two teams identified by league sources as potential suitors for Davis,” the report states. “League sources say Davis is believed to be amenable to both options, though it remains to be seen how motivated Atlanta and Toronto are to get a deal done.”

In regards to Toronto specifically, Clark and Amick reported the following.

“The Raptors (22-15; fourth in the East) are expected to look for help at center and could engage the Mavericks on Davis as Feb. 5 draws nearer, league sources say. Any deal with Toronto would require Dallas to take back long-term contracts. The Mavericks, league sources say, would very likely require significant draft capital coming their way to make a deal of that nature.”

The report additionally notes the Raptors have interest in Domantas Sabonis as well in the interest of seeking front court help.

As noted above Toronto is a top-five team in the East. But they have cooled a bit after a great start. Adding Davis would give the roster an elite interior presence offensively that it currently lacks and he would make for a terrifying defensive partner with Scottie Barnes, who is making a case to earn Defensive Player of the Year votes thus far. But Davis’s $54 million salary means the Raptors would have to give up multiple starters in order to match his contract, most likely Jakob Poeltl and one of Immanuel Quickley or RJ Barrett. All that plus draft capital is a high price to pay for an aging and injury-prone big man, especially in light of his reported desire for any team trading for him to offer him a big extension.

If the Raptors pulled it off they could definitely contend for the East title, assuming good health from Davis. But that’s a big assumption and would prove costly if incorrect. Still, they seem to be a team to monitor as the Davis sweepstakes heat up in the weeks before this year’s deadline.

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