After Nico Harrison was let go earlier in the 2025–26 NBA season, trade speculations about Anthony Davis began to circulate among the Dallas Mavericks. With Davis’ injury issues, many believe that the Mavericks would move on from him. However, minority owner Mark Cuban shut down the trade rumors, The Athletic’s Joe Vardon confirmed on Wednesday.
The Mavericks haven’t had the best start to their season, and have a 4-11 record. Davis’ injuries are one of the main reasons the team hasn’t been successful. The star big man has only appeared in the first five games for Dallas and has missed 10 straight games with a left calf strain.
There has been external talk regarding a possible exchange during the organization’s transition. Before Cuban revealed the franchise’s plan to keep Davis, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported on Wednesday that the team will explore the trade market.
However, Cuban and the Mavericks want Anthony Davis to succeed and compete.
“We won’t. We want to try to win,” the businessman said in an email.
“I’m here to help him where I can.”
Mavericks owner Patrick Dumont wants to make sure that Davis is 100% healthy before he returns to the lineup. Calf strains have been the source of the devastating Achilles injury. All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard experienced it during the 2025 playoffs.
Dumont wants the Mavericks to avoid a setback as major as that.
Shams Charania had a different report regarding Anthony Davis’ future with the Mavericks
Even after Cuban confirmed that the Mavericks plan to keep Anthony Davis, ESPN’s Shams Charania said that the franchise wants to move on from the star. On Wednesday’s episode of “NBA Countdown,” Charania said that Dallas is focused on developing and building a group around rookie forward Cooper Flagg.
“And to that end sources have told ESPN that the Mavericks will be listening to trade calls for Anthony Davis and seeing and exploring his value,” the league insider said.
On the Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Davis for ESPN NBA Countdown: pic.twitter.com/RkREx0cbVo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025
“And for that health will be the biggest key because not only for the Mavericks to evaluate Anthony Davis over a lengthy period of time, and extended period of time on the court, but for other teams that could have interest in him to see what he looks like when he’s back with this team. What this team [Dallas Mavericks] looks like when he’s back, a lot of evaluation to come around Anthony Davis.”
The Mavericks disappointed their supporters the last time they declared their commitment to their star. Only time will tell what the future holds for Davis.
For other sports-related content:
Follow me on- X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at reignamuraonba@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
