Breakroom water coolers will be full of lively discussion as the sports world is still buzzing from Saturday night's blockbuster trade that saw Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis switch teams. The Dallas Mavericks organization seems to be taking the ultimate gamble in moving off one one of the best players in the world as he approaches his prime. Their general manager, Nico Harrison, said that he'll be buried if this proves to be a bad bet.
But Jay Williams has a lot of optimism for what the deal can mean for Dallas both in the long- and short-term.
Asked on Get Up Monday morning if Dallas can now come out of the Western Conference this year with an Anthony Davis-bolstered defensive approach, Williams offered a vote of confidence.
"Yes," he said. "I think this team got better defensively. You talk about AD can actually go back to his natural position."
Williams added that Dallas now has tremendous size and length, and while he conceeded that they may regress slightly offensively, the Doncic-centric attack had its drawbacks.
.@RealJayWilliams believes the Mavericks could come out of the West after acquiring Anthony Davis 👀 pic.twitter.com/pyLvuPk3sa
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 3, 2025
"The way Luka dominated the ball, as much as that's a great thing to watch, I think it also sometimes forces the offense to be stagnant," Williams said. "Now, people can think that I'm absolutely crazy about this because Luka is one of the most special players the game has ever seen. But the ball sticks in his hands a ton. He does make incredible plays but I think that takes away from the continuity sometimes in which maybe a Klay Thompson or a Kyrie Irving or a P.J. Washington they're better playing alongside of that."
If Dallas is to make a meaningful run toward the playoff and advance deep into them, they had better start now. Currently they are 26-24 and 9th in the Western Conference. They are only one game above the cutline to miss the postseason entirely.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jay Williams Shares Surprising New Ceiling for Mavericks After Stunning Trade.
