Anthony Davis' agent reveals how injury could impact Mavericks' plans

The Dallas Mavericks were hit with unfortunate news over the last week when it was determined that star forward Anthony Davis would be out for possibly two months due to ligament damage in his left hand, an injury suffered late against the Utah Jazz last Thursday.

Dallas was hoping to trade Davis before the trade deadline, as they'd like to get off his contract, but they wanted to build up his trade value by playing him in games to prove he can be healthy. That never happened, as he's never even played in six straight games as a Maverick. And this recent hand injury likely makes him untradeable before the deadline.

However, that may not be such a bad thing, according to Davis' agent, Rich Paul, the CEO of Klutch Sports.

︀︀“I do think when you have that trade speculation out there, you have to make your mind up because sometimes when you play in traffic, you get hit by a car. If you plan on trading somebody, there’s a time. It’s almost a gamesmanship to it," Paul said on the "Game Over" podcast. "You're trying to go a little longer, a little longer, and see the most you can get out of somebody. When you do that, you run a risk. There is a world you come out of this draft with a great pick, that the following year and saying, ‘Wait a minute, we got these two young guys on rookie contracts that are good, you have Kyrie and AD, two top 15 players'… It’s not totally negative.”
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Rich Paul on the Pros and Cons of the Mavericks after Anthony Davis gets injured during trade talks 👀

“I do think when you have that trade speculation out there you have to make your mind up because sometimes when you play in traffic you get hit by a car. If you plan on trading… pic.twitter.com/ssonbYVcTb
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) January 12, 2026

Rich Paul is Still Angling for One Thing for Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis and Rich Paul only want one thing, whether that's with him on the Mavericks or not, and that's a large contract extension. I don't think any team would be willing to hand him a max contract after this latest injury, which is his fourth major one since he was traded to the Mavericks 11 months ago.

But Davis is extension-eligible this offseason. The Mavericks will still probably try to trade Davis this offseason as they look to retool the roster around Cooper Flagg, but it's going to be hard to find a suitor. It may have been a little easier to trade him this year and convince an Eastern Conference contender that they can make a run with him in a wide-open year.

The other challenging thing that the Mavericks can't avoid is that Davis was the primary return for Luka Doncic, and there's not going to be any trade that makes it worth trading Doncic. They have to separate the two trades, but the public pressure is not going to make it look good, no matter what.

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