5:30 pm: The Mavericks officially confirmed (via Twitter) that Davis has ligament damage in his left hand, which was revealed by an MRI. Davis is seeking multiple opinions for the injury and updates will be provided as appropriate.
4:05 pm: In a full story for ESPN.com, Charania and MacMahon report that Davis is expected to be out at least six weeks if he’s able to avoid surgery. Undergoing a procedure would sideline the one-time NBA champion for “several” months, sources tell ESPN.
3:24 pm: Mavericks big man Anthony Davis has ligament damage in his left hand, according to Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Davis is getting a second opinion on his hand and could miss multiple months if surgery is deemed the best course of action to treat the injury, per ESPN’s duo. Either way, it sounds like Davis — one of the top names on trade market — will be out of action beyond the February 5 deadline, tweets Charania.
The 32-year-old forward/center sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter during Thursday’s loss at Utah. His hand appeared to bend back at an odd angle while defending Lauri Markkanen on a drive (YouTube link).
Davis initially signaled to Mavs head coach Jason Kidd that he was OK to stay in the game despite being in noticeable discomfort, ultimately checking out a couple of possessions later after Kidd called a timeout. The 10-time All-Star was doubled over in pain in the tunnel of the arena and did not return.
Davis, who has a lengthy injury history, has been plagued by multiple ailments (adductor, eye, calf, groin) since was traded to Dallas last February in the shocking blockbuster that sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers. The Mavs are 10-10 with Davis in the lineup this season but just 4-14 when he’s unavailable.
Not only does Davis’ hand injury decrease the odds of him being dealt before Feb. 5, it may make the Mavs more likely to shut down Kyrie Irving for the 2025/26 campaign as well, notes Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (via Twitter). Irving is out indefinitely after tearing his ACL last March.
2026 is the last draft which in which the Mavericks control their first-round pick until 2031, observes Marc Stein (Twitter link), so prioritizing a top selection for the remainder of the year seems likely. The offseason may be a different matter, however, given the lack of future draft control.
In 20 games this season, Davis has averaged 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 31.3 minutes per contest. The former No. 1 overall pick is under contract through 2027/28, with a $62.8MM player option for that final season.
Centers Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell and Moussa Cisse are candidates for more playing time with Davis out indefinitely.
Not to mention lack of Vitamin C and E and a spinal fluid deficiency. Plus not a lot of heart. Maybe he should check into the Mayo Clinic. Just stop all the Chicago trade nonsense now!
Are we suppose to believe this. Why is there a wait and see. They should know today if he needs surgery.
This all about Yanking for a pick ….
Yanking the fans is what it is. Mavs going for that lottery pick. They will deal with AD next year. Unreal man. He will never get another big contract ever. Should get the Westbrook treatment. Minimum salary. Truth is this could be AD or the team … wow
link to yardbarker.com
Street Clothes at it again!
Death, taxes, street clothes…
Shocking
AD is a heck of a player just injury prone which is always unfortunate 🥲
Mr Glass…
Embiid is getting a run for his money on worst contact in the league.
Let’s go!
The only thing that is upsetting about this to me as a Luka fan who used to watch the Mavs games, is that now they will likely have another high pick they don’t deserve.
Hopefully, the basketball gods will do the reverse of last year and they get a bad pick ball.
The fix was in last year. It was a setup from the Luca trade. Unless they are helping the Lakers before the trade deadline, there will be no favors this year!
AD is a great player, but injury prone. I’ll never understand why he was given such a lucrative contract the last time? B
Conspiracy “theories” are ruining the country. Come with facts not conjecture.
Why don’t they deserve a high pick? Because they traded Luka? Many of the teams in the lottery are dumb with bad front offices, that’s why they are in the lottery.
It’s one thing to have traded Luka, it was another all the crap Dumont talked about him. Luka played his butt off for then played the 2024 playoff run injured and took them to the Finals.
He didn’t deserve all the crap talk about how he was lazy on the way out!
Makes that Trae Young deal look even more stupid. Now there’s no point dealing for him to help you out this season. Now you’re going to be banking on a 33 year old big man helping you be better after you give him a likely expensive extension.
Good one ATL
Atlanta cleared allot of salary. You should be thankful they aren’t taking on AD.
Not an ATL fan so doesn’t bother me either way. Plus I’m 90% certain they will trade for him so don’t be thankful
The Trae Young deal was a good deal for ATL on its own. The Hawks have been performing better *as a team* when he wasn’t playing AND they were able to get rid of his contract.
100% CJ is a better fit than Trae for the Hawks. If KP is over his illness the team should be set for a run.
I don’t understand this made up narrative they have been performing better without him.
His career record is 221-272 and without him over the same time is 46-49.
The knock on the hawks under Trae is they are the most mid team ever always going .500. This year they are currently 18-21.
Even if they trade for AD or whatever next year I guarantee they won’t be better than .500
As for CJ, this thing of he’s a better fit. He’s lower usage which make him more efficient, he’s less of a playmaker, who is on par defensively but 34 years old.
He’s got maybe 1 more season left in him, yeah sure I’ll love to see how that goes for you.
I honestly think next season Washington will be better than Atlanta
They have Jalen Johnson, he’s a great playmaker. CJ can run the offense for stretches. He’s done so in Portland, New Orleans and Washington. Dyson Daniels usually defends the point of attack so the defense isn’t as critical. Most importantly he can hit the open threes when Jalen draws the defense.
They don’t deserve? Stupidly nets high picks to teams all the time. What makes the Mavs different?
The irony in your post
Poor Dallas fans. Previous idiot GM gave away a MVP future HOF for a former good player who was on borrowed time.
Why do teams keep giving the Lakers their prime and future HOF talent to only to get little to nothing back in return.
NBA and ESPN need the Lakers on TV.
Lakers are the Yankees of the NBA. Worldwide following.
This may be true, but nobody gave them Doncic other than the idiot GM.
Probably NBA coerced Nico on assurances if they tank they will get #1 pick.
They sure did a risky tank job winning their first play in game Datashark
No way that happens if Flagg is on a secret handshake deal from Silver . They would have lost vs Sac to insure that it wasn’t even a remote possibility
That theory’s pretty debunked if we are using logic as our guide
Luka. Pau, Kobe, Mychal, Kareem. I mean all I can really say is thank you can I have another?
LoL at anyone who thought this trade was ever good..
Anyone is Nico and who else?
He is a joke
At least he’s consistent.
Davis being injured is not surprising nor alarming cause its the AD way.
Mavs trade just keeps getting more laughable.
Yeah but he doesn’t drink as much alcohol as Luka does and that’s what really matters.
This is comical
AD vs Porzingis… Last man standing contest… and the winner is….0_0
Injured guy has injury.
Anthony Rendon Davis
I see what you did there.
seems like this puts the kibosh on Atlanta’s plans .. will be interesting to see how they pivot .. or are they just satisfied to get young off the roster
Poor Nico got hoodwinked by the Lakers! If only there were a way to tell that a player was unreliable… some kind of history of a player’s injuries or something.
/s