Mavericks Executives Explain Why Now Was the Time to Trade Anthony Davis

The Dallas Mavericks traded Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday afternoon. It eventually became a three-team deal involving the Charlotte Hornets and was finalized on Thursday evening. More than anything, it was a salary dump. Davis had only played in 29 of 85 regular-season games since coming over in last year's disastrous deal with the Los Angeles Lakers that sent out Luka Doncic.

Once the trade was finalized, the Mavericks' Co-General Managers, Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, discussed why they made the trade. Finley was the first to speak about it.

"Well, first, I want to thank Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, Dante Exum, and D’Angelo Russell for their professionalism while they were with the Mavericks. Both on and off the court, in the community, those guys were great. So, kudos to those guys and good luck to them in their future endeavors," Finley started.

"We decided as an organization, front office and management, that we needed to do something to bring back the winning culture here in Dallas. We thought doing the move that we did puts us back in that conversation and gives the fans something to be excited about. And I think we’re moving in the right direction by doing the move we did, it puts us in the mindset of having a championship atmosphere around here. That’s what it’s all about, and I think we’ve achieved that with the move we just did. And we will continue to do that, and do what we think is best for the organization this day, and going forward as well."

Riccardi followed after, who people reported was the driving force behind this trade.

"I echo a lot of Fin’s thoughts. But most importantly, thank you to the players, and we’re excited for the new guys coming in. Just to expand on one of Fin’s points, I think we had to take an honest look at ourselves in the mirror and realize where we were and where we wanted to be," Riccardi said. "Sometimes, the path is not straightforward, and you’ve got to go a roundabout way to get where we want to go. But our goal here remains the same. We want to win championships, we want to build a championship roster, and we want to do everything we can to provide the players with the proper resources and the staff to make that happen."

Anthony Davis Trade Gives Mavericks Flexibility

More than anything, trading away Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, and Jaden Hardy got them off some really bad future salary, which wouldn't have let them build the team the way they wanted. They were projected to be a second-round team if they didn't make any moves, especially once they added another high lottery pick.

And with Davis only playing in about a third of the games he's been a Maverick for, it doesn't make sense to continue to restrain the team's future flexibility, especially with how bad they are right now.

Making these trades saved over $200 million in payroll and penalty taxes. There's always a chance they could trade Klay Thompson, Caleb Martin, Daniel Gafford, or P.J. Washington in the summer to open even more future flexibility. The priority is building around Cooper Flagg, and since Anthony Davis can't space the floor well and prefers to play power forward, he wasn't a long-term fit.

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