The Dallas Mavericks have enjoyed their most stress-free week of news since before February 1, as Cooper Flagg has officially been drafted as a Dallas Maverick, and it's clear there's a new sense of life injected into this fan base. However, the Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis trade is still at the forefront of many Mavericks fans' minds, as the trade vastly shifted the NBA landscape and the trajectory of both organizations involved.
While the Mavericks got extremely lucky and will be able to fiddle between their present and future timelines with Flagg now joining the mix, the Lakers were much better equipped for the future compared to Dallas pre-Flagg. The Lakers still have some intriguing young pieces to pair with Doncic and Austin Reaves going forward, but with LeBron James potentially playing one of his last seasons, the impetus to get a two-way center to pair alongside the Lakers' dynamic playmakers has never been higher.
The Lakers stumbled into the gift of Doncic at a cheap asking price, and they clearly want to take advantage of this window to win a championship while James is still playing. However, it's ironic Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka didn't take this same type of approach at the center position when Davis was the face of their franchise, as Davis has often lauded to play the four alongside a more traditional five, and he played a lot at the four when the Lakers won the NBA Finals in 2020.
Lakers eye a starting big to pair with Doncic, but barely did with Davis
Recently, Pelinka said, "We won't rest until we get it right," regarding the Lakers' search for a center, and that is a major slap in the face to Davis. He pushed the Lakers to trade for a five while he was in Los Angeles, but they put his request on the back burner and never gave him the help he needed.
Now, with Doncic running the show, they are deciding to prioritize their center search.
There's definitely an argument to be made Davis is best maximized at the five, and pairing a center alongside Doncic for a team that lacks quality big-man play is an obvious stylistic change the Lakers have known they'll have to address this summer ever since their Mark Williams trade was rescinded, but it's still puzzling why the Lakers and their brass are putting so much importance on this now when one of their best seasons in recent history featured a ton of lineups with Davis playing alongside Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee.
There's definitely an argument to be made the Lakers should have tried to pair a more dynamic center alongside Davis in some of his final seasons there, as that may have helped with the wear and tear on some of his injuries and could've bolstered their interior presence defensively, but it's clear this is now a huge priority for their organization with Doncic at the helm.
This next season, Davis will have the most bigs and lengthier wings that he's ever been surrounded by in his entire career, and the Mavericks will be able to roll out huge and versatile lineups at the touch of a button, basically every game, health permitting, of course. If Davis and the Mavericks aren't hitting their stride and there's spacing issues offensively because of their gigantic lineups, then perhaps that could be the solidifying argument to Davis being best optimized at the five for the remainder of his career, as he may never be on a roster again that has such talented front-court depth.
Davis' lone championship refutes that argument, though, and the best solution to Dallas' lineup combinations next season will probably be to stick to their identity of playing big, but head coach Jason Kidd will also need to play Davis at the five against certain matchups next season in a league that has never been more dynamic in terms of its perimeter scorers.
It's not surprising the Lakers are more inclined to get a big man alongside Doncic compared to with Davis, but Davis will get his full wish with Dallas' huge roster expecting to be fully healthy to start next season barring Kyrie Irving, as next season will be the ultimate litmus test as to if Davis is best optimized playing alongside another center or not.