NBA: Three franchises chase Anthony Davis

The Dallas Mavericks are hesitating to extend Anthony Davis, at the risk of having to trade him, whilst several squad veterans could also be sacrificed depending on results in the coming weeks.

Things are going better in Dallas (nine wins - 16 defeats), who are on a run of four wins in the last five matches and who could rejoin the Western Conference pack in the coming weeks.

Whilst awaiting Kyrie Irving, Ryan Nembhard is thus stabilising the game's setup, and Anthony Davis obviously brings a lot of things, notably to free up Cooper Flagg and diversify the Texan attack. Nevertheless, the big man is still not certain to be part of the franchise's long-term project, as ESPN explain.

Rich Paul, the 2020 champion's agent, has thus approached Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, who took over from Nico Harrison in Dallas, to know if the club intend to extend Anthony Davis next summer.

At 32 years old, "AD" still has two and a half years of contract, but he has a player option at $62.8m (£50m) for the 2027-28 season and he can therefore potentially test the market in summer 2027. Next summer, he would therefore really like to extend his contract to be secure long-term.

Daniel Gafford, Klay Thompson and D'Angelo Russell on the hot seat?

Evidently, the Mavericks have however made no promises to Anthony Davis, explaining they want to keep options open ahead of the 5th February trade deadline, depending notably on the team's results.

If Dallas do not want to extend the big man next summer, trading him beforehand is therefore a solution, with ESPN specifying that several clubs are already in the running, notably the Pistons, Hawks and also Raptors. On Klutch Sports' side, they want however a trade to be linked to an extension upon arrival.

But Anthony Davis is not the only Mavericks player likely to leave if results remain average and the team do not climb seriously up the standings. Daniel Gafford, Klay Thompson and D'Angelo Russell are also amongst the players who could be traded in the coming weeks.

This article was originally published on Basket USA.