The Dallas Mavericks have found some life recently with Anthony Davis returning to the lineup. They're 3-0 in games he's played, and they're on the verge of breaking into the Play-In Tournament with eight games left to play. But that isn't enough for Mavs fans to get over trading away Luka Doncic.
Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie recently appeared on Jeff Teague's podcast, "Club 520," and talked about the trade.
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Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) dribbles the ball against Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph (10) in the first quarter at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images
"They are both my friends and [Luka] to me is probably the best offensive player in the NBA right now,” Dinwiddie said. “But AD might be the best two-way player. Probably him and Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. So it’s a tough position to be in like I said. The only thing that sucks is they’re acting like AD is a bum, that’s the crazy part. You could feel how you feel about the trade. Win, lose, better for now, better for the future, whatever it may be. We’ve got to stop acting like AD isn’t AD bro. We got to stop.”
It isn't that fans are acting like Davis is a "bum," it's just that he's not Luka Doncic, he's 32 years old, and he has an extensive injury history. That injury history came back to bite the Mavs in his first game, as he went down with an adductor strain against the Houston Rockets in February, forcing him to miss the next 18 games.
Davis has returned since then to play in two of the last three games, but he's still getting back into playing shape. Meanwhile, Doncic's getting back into shape still has him averaging 30+ PPG. The Lakers are also fighting to have homecourt advantage in the playoffs. Dallas will be lucky to have a homecourt advantage for one Play-In game.
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