Regardless of the on-court results over the last week for the Dallas Mavericks, which includes them winning four of their last five games and looking like a guarantee for the Play-In Tournament, fans are still furious about the Luka Doncic trade. They can't believe that Nico Harrison ever considered trading the franchise cornerstone in the first place, and they also can't believe Harrison didn't maximize the return for him.
This anger about the trade has led to protests outside the American Airlines Center, "fire Nico" chants at nearly every venue in Dallas, and more, and Davis's first month with the Mavericks has been far from normal. Any other time that Dallas would have traded for a top big in the league, fans would be ecstatic, but since Doncic is gone, Davis has been caught in the crosshairs as he hasn't gotten the respect he deserves.
He has become extremely underrated despite being arguably the best two-way player the Mavericks have ever had on paper, and his teammates aren't having any of it. Dallas is known for being one of the most tight-knit teams in the league, regardless of everything that has gone down this season, and Davis has fit right into the Mavs family.
Dinwiddie refuses to let the Davis slander slide
Spencer Dinwiddie recently hopped on the "Club 520 Podcast" and dove into the Doncic-Davis trade, standing up for his new teammate and demanding that he gets more respect moving forward. Dinwiddie had the chance to play with Davis in Los Angeles as well, and he knows as well as anyone how good he can be when he's at his best. Dinwiddie listed Davis as one of the top five power forwards of all time, and he can't believe the disrespect that is coming Davis' way.
"They acting like AD a bum," Dinwiddie said. "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."
Dinwiddie is 100 percent right here, as fans have truly underrated Davis and the impact he can make for Dallas. The Mavericks will have the chance to contend for a title with Davis and Kyrie Irving (once he returns) leading the way as soon as next season, and even though the outlook for this season is grim, they could end up being one of the scariest teams in the Western Conference next season.
Davis' fit in Dallas is undeniable, as their big man duo of Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford allows him to play his true position of power forward. This is something he badly wanted with the Los Angeles Lakers this season before he was traded to Dallas, and playing him next to a true big allows him to be himself on both ends. It sounds like the Mavericks are going to get both bigs back soon, as they were listed as doubtful for last night's game against the Chicago Bulls, and even with Irving out, this team could end up surprising some people over the next few weeks.
Mavericks fans have briefly begun to realize just how much of an impact Davis can make when fully healthy, as they are 4-0 in games that he's played in, but he may not get the full respect he deserves until next season. Once Dallas is at full strength, Davis may finally silence the critics.
