Rich Paul Outlines The Pros and Cons Of Anthony Davis Being In Constant Trade Talks Amid Injury

There is a dark cloud hovering over the Dallas Mavericks franchise. Ever since former GM Nico Harrison dealt away Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, the organization has suffered nothing but bad luck. Davis went down with an injury in his first game. Kyrie Irving tore his ACL and is still out. The No. 1 draft pick, Cooper Flagg, has given the team some life this year, but he has no real help. The Mavericks are currently 13th in the Western Conference, and if that was not bad enough, Davis is hurt again.

The 10-time All-Star tore a ligament in his hand and has no timetable for a return. It could be a few months, or it could be the rest of the season. The big man has certainly put his body through a lot since entering the NBA in the 2012–13 season. These days, he seems to spend more time on the bench than on the hardwood.

It also does not help Dallas that Davis was potentially someone they were planning to trade at the deadline for draft capital. This latest injury certainly appeared to throw a wrench into that plan, right? Well, not necessarily, according to Davis’ agent, Rich Paul. The Klutch Sports CEO explained why this situation could actually be a positive on the latest edition of his Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman.

“I do think when you have that speculation out there, you have to make your mind up a little bit because sometimes when you play in traffic, you get hit by a car,” began Paul. “If you plan on trading somebody, there’s a time. It’s almost a gamesmanship to it. Your trying to go a little longer, a little longer and see the most you can get out of somebody. And sometimes when you do that, you run a risk. In this case, AD gets injured.”

It’s a wild, but true analogy, and no one knows the business of basketball better than Paul. Davis certainly would have liked to be dominating on the court so he could raise his stock and get a better trade deal. But even though the ligament tear halted that, Paul expressed why Dallas will be in an even better position for a deal after next year’s draft.

“There is a world where given that you can come out of this draft with a great pick that you’re looking at the following year and saying, ‘Now wait a minute. We got these two young guys on rookie contracts that are really good, that are able to still really play the game at a high level,” stated the 45-year-old sports agent.

“At each end, we have a Kyrie and an AD who are champions. All-stars, when healthy, two of the top 15 players in the league when healthy. And then obviously figuring out some surface level stuff with the bench. It’s not totally negative,” he added.

This whole situation feels less like bad planning and more like a brutal reminder of how thin the margin is in today’s NBA. Dallas clearly swung big, and sometimes when you do that, the downside hits all at once. The optimistic view is that the Mavs now have clarity.

They’re not pretending this roster is one move away anymore, and that matters. If Flagg is the foundation and AD becomes either a healthy wildcard or a future asset, there’s at least a direction forming. It’s messy, it’s frustrating, but for the first time since the Luka deal, it feels like Dallas might actually be forced to build instead of patching holes.

The post Rich Paul Outlines The Pros and Cons Of Anthony Davis Being In Constant Trade Talks Amid Injury appeared first on The SportsRush.