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 making his return to the floor on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets, per multiple reports.
Davis had been sidelined since Feb. 8 with an adductor strain, which he suffered in his Mavericks debut after being traded from the Los Angeles Lakers. He was initially listed as doubtful for Monday’s game, then upgraded to questionable earlier and now it appears he’s made enough progress to get back on the floor.
The All-Star forward had been assigned 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. Davis has been “very eager” to play, per Marc Stein, though there’s been some concern from within the Mavericks organization that it may not be worth the risk given their standing in the West and the litany of other injuries they’ve dealt with. “[They] said the risk/reward is not there,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on “NBA Today” last Wednesday. “There are people who would rather shut him down for the season. AD’s not trying to hear all that.”
Since trading for Davis, the Mavericks (34-37) have slipped to 11th in the Western Conference, and have lost nine of their last 11 games. They lost All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to an ACL tear which not only sidelines him for the rest of this season, but for most of next year as well. They’re still without Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, as well as several other key role players, decimating their rotation to eight or nine players most night. At this point, it seems reasonable for Dallas to tank the rest of the season (provided that they don’t run afoul of the NBA’s Player Participation Policy), but they do hold the same record as the 10th-place Phoenix Suns, meaning there’s still something for them to fight for if that’s the goal.
With Davis returning, it appears as though the Mavericks aren’t waving the white flag yet, and while he’s played 31 dominant minutes for Dallas, we’ll have to see how far he can carry a Mavericks team that is far from full strength.
