Forget whether or not the Dallas Mavericks should bring Anthony Davis back this season. The 32-year-old star, acquired in the still-mind-boggling Luka Donćić trade, is ramping up for a return, and could make his return as soon as Monday against the Brooklyn Nets.
Davis has officially been listed to questionable for Monday’s game, an upgrade from Sunday’s “doubtful” designation, and the first time he’s been listed as anything other than “out” on the injury report since suffering an adductor strain in his Mavs debut on Feb. 8.
Dallas assigned Davis to the G League’s Texas Legends twice last week, playing five-on-five to get in more reps to ramp up for a return. Fellow big men Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford were also assigned to the G League for rehab stints, though they’re not as far along as Davis, according to Marc Stein.
The Mavs have lost nine of their last 11 games, and are 11th in the Western Conference standings, but they have the same record as the 10th-place Phoenix Suns. In theory, instead of chasing the last play-in spot, they could tank the rest of the season (provided that they don’t run afoul of the NBA’s Player Participation Policy), but Davis is reportedly uninterested in that.
This past Monday, The Stein Line described Davis as “very eager” to play. Davis is “steadfast in his determination to want to return this season, maybe as soon as next week, despite the fact there are people within the Mavericks organization that have tried to talk him out of it,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on “NBA Today” on Wednesday. “[They] said the risk/reward is not there. There are people who would rather shut him down for the season. AD’s not trying to hear all that.”
Davis has played 31 dominant minutes for Dallas. It appears as though that number will increase as early as Monday. While we can argue over what path the Mavericks should be taking for the rest of the season, getting Davis back out there will be a minor victory for a team that’s been in freefall since a franchise-altering trade in February.
