Mavericks rookie calls out plan for Anthony Davis after blowout loss to Thunder

Ryan Nembhard gives a hot take about the offensive gameplan they had on Friday night.

Dec 5, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks are coming off a blowout 132-111 loss to the NBA's best team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and now have to face the Houston Rockets on Saturday. It was an ugly performance, but it didn't really get ugly until the second quarter.

It was 43-40 midway through the second quarter, and then they were outscored 61-34 for the next quarter and a half. OKC does that to teams; they have far and away the best defense in the league, but that doesn't mean that it's acceptable for the Mavs to play like that.

Anthony Davis, in particular, really struggled. OKC promoted Jaylin Williams to the starting lineup to help defend Davis, but they also sent a lot of double teams, daring Davis to make the skip pass to the corner, and he never did. He ended up finishing with just 2 points on 1/9 shooting, and didn't get those points until seconds before he checked out for the final time.

After the game, undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard called out the offensive game plan, saying the ball doesn't need to go to Davis every time.

"There's different ways to get him the ball, but I think we're a little too focused on getting him the ball, we could... touch the paint and some other things," Nembhard said when asked how it can be difficult to get someone like Davis the ball when OKC is defending the way there are.

Ryan Nembhard said “I think we’re a little too focused” on getting Anthony Davis the ball.

He said the team could have got two feet in the paint more. pic.twitter.com/u3HPkfjMEH

— Ron Harrod Jr. (@RonKnowsSports) December 6, 2025

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks hosting Rockets on back-to-back after Kevin Durant makes NBA history

Not a Great Game to Raise Anthony Davis' Trade Value

The Dallas Mavericks are expected to trade Anthony Davis at some point this year because he doesn't fit the timeline of Cooper Flagg, doesn't fit the rest of the roster, and will be making more than $60 million in a few years, which is a lot of money to be paying someone who isn't an MVP-caliber player.

But they also won't give him away for free. They need to try and replenish their draft capital since they don't have control over their picks from 2027 to 2030, and they may not be a very good team for some of those years. Davis is their best pathway to both improving the team and getting more draft picks.

He did have a great performance against the Denver Nuggets earlier in the week, putting up 32 points and 13 rebounds in an upset win. But games like this against OKC are not going to help anything.

READ MORE: Trade proposal sends controversial star to Mavericks to team up with Cooper Flagg

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