The recent hand injury setback for star big man Anthony Davis could have altered the Dallas Mavericks asking price...
The Chicago Bulls have been discussed as a possible landing spot for Dallas Mavericks star big man Anthony Davis. These rumors connecting the Chicago native to the Bulls were mostly circulating before Davis suffered a hand injury that initially was reported to end his season, but then was later updated as keeping him out for at least six weeks after a second opinion.
Davis coming back later in the season is interesting, and maybe could factor into whether or not the Bulls would be legitimately interested. This current Bulls regime loves to have their cake and eat it too, and a Davis acquisition could still do just that for Chicago.
Dallas will obviously be looking for some value for Davis as he was still producing at a high-level on both sides of the ball when he did play. It won't be a salary dump like the Trae Young situation. But with the nagging injuries, it is likely the Mavericks can't acquire more than a single draft pick, a talented young player, and matching salary.
Chicago shouldn't be trading 1st round draft picks for the most part, but for a player of Davis' caliber changes that equation a bit. The Bulls won't make a decision internally on if they should push harder for a postseason appearance, or tear the roster down further to tank, but Davis would likely delight the Bulls' front office in taking the decision out of their hands completely. If Davis played a decent amount of games with the Bulls, they would probably make the Play-In (again) but have a more serious chance of making it out and advancing to the playoffs. And playoff experience for young players is something that would make being stuck in the middle a bit worth it in the meantime.
Conversely, if the Bulls traded for Davis and decided to shut him down, you increase your chances of losing games and thusly, moving up in the draft lottery. This gives you a unique scenario where you could enter an offseason with Anthony Davis, a high draft pick, and more flexibility than you had before in terms of assets that the rest of the league are actually interested in.
The Bulls--sitting at 19-21 and 9th place in the Eastern Conference--are more or less in the same position they were last year. Some would argue that this represents success, as the roster is much younger than it was last season, but I would argue that this simply says more about that state of the currently injury-riddled-at-the-top East. Real progress is the Bulls simply being a better team than last year, and only time will tell if they can do better than another Play-In loss.
Adding a player with Davis' skillset--rim protection, rebounding, scoring--next to Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis is likely to make the team a real threat in the middle of the Eastern Conference, whether that is this season, or he chose to recover and rejoin the Bulls at 100% next season, a fine plan as long as the Bulls retain their 2026 1st round pick.
But one thing we do know is that Bulls fans would be thrilled for the organization to do.....something, (anything?) to either improve the postseason or draft lottery odds of the team. As the February 5th NBA Trade Deadline fast approaches, Anthony Davis is positioned as the from-Chicago-elpehant-in-the-room if the Bulls truly want to shock their fanbase with a risky deal that could have a big payoff. The Bulls organization hasn't been interested in superstar trades in the past, but another middling season provides the perfect backdrop for a bombshell deal from a usually reserved front office.