The Pistons’ Anthony Davis perfect deal for the Mavericks amid a red-hot start

The The Detroit Pistons have emerged as a popular potential trade destination for any superstar that might become available. Detroit continued to rise from the ashes, becoming the best team in the Eastern Conference at the time of writing at 21-5, and with how wide open the Eastern Conference is, there’s a good chance the Pistons could end up being the conference’s representative in the NBA Finals.

Of course, whether or not the Pistons win it all is another story entirely. The Western Conference is a different animal with as many as five legitimate title contenders in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers. Even the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors can’t be counted out.

That’s why it is Clips have become a fashionable choice to become the next team to pull off a blockbuster trade for a piece that could hypothetically take them over the hump. Now the question is whether or not Anthony Davis is that the kind of player he is and if the Pistons see him as such.

The Dallas Mavericks have been playing better and better basketball lately, and Cooper Flagg is getting better and better every day. But it’s clear that their disputed timeline has been pushed back so far by the Luka Doncic trade. Davis has been good when healthy, but at 32, he’s becoming more of an injury risk and could be available if the Mavs decide to go all-in on a youth movement.

To that end, The Pistons could decide to trade for Davis. And for what it’s worth, they’re already rumored to be interested in trading for him. What would a package from Detroit look like for AD?

Pistons trade package for Anthony Davis

Pistons pick up: Anthony Davis, Max Christie

Mavericks acquire: Jaden Ivey, Tobias Harris, Ron Holland II, 2027 DET first round pick, 2029 DET first round pick (both unprotected)

There are some Davis trading packages are floating around the internet which won’t net the Mavericks a multiple first-round pick. Maybe they won’t trade Davis at that point. As everyone should remember, the Mavs traded Doncic, a perennial All-NBA first teamer, for a package led by Davis. Although Nico Harrison has stepped down as GM, the franchise remains high on the 32-year-old big man and won’t be giving him up cheaply.

The good news is that the Pistons have the luxury of putting together a legitimate package for Davis that won’t even require third-team involvement. They can always build a package around Tobias Harris and Jaden Ivey and figure out the rest of the trade structure later.

Harris has been a big part of the Pistons over the past year and a half, instilling a level of professionalism and leadership that this young team has sorely needed. For all the offense he’s caught over the years due to poor results as the third banana in Philly, he’s been perfect for the Pistons as a gap-filling secondary scorer who can attack the shutdown and provide a baseline level of production every night.

But Harris has to be expendable in any Davis trade regardless of the intangibles he provides and the court his game possesses along with the Pistons’ core trio of Cade Cunningham, Jaylen Duren and Aussar Thompson. For starters, his contract expires at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he could be a valuable asset in a trade that brings a long-term star to the Pistons to speed up their contention timeline.

Ivey is one of the Pistons he wouldn’t want to lose. The fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Ivey has the skills to be a dangerous secondary scorer alongside Cunningham, and someone who can run the offense when Cunningham needs a break. But Ivey has yet to hit his stride in 2025-26, and at this point the Pistons might be best using him as a trade chip.

However, he is only 23 years old, so the Mavericks should be interested in him as the center of a trade. Alas, given his lackluster performance this season, as well as his recent lingering injury, he won’t be enough of a centerpiece to any Davis trade to the point where the Pistons wouldn’t need to add more to the package.

Adding two first-round picks should be the minimum the Mavericks would want in any Davis trade. After all, he’s still a nightly 20-10 threat and remains one of the best defensive big men in the league — making him a perfect fit for the Pistons’ solid identity. Furthermore, he doesn’t have to play center, as the Pistons have Duren and Isaiah Stewart to spare him that responsibility.

The Pistons are ready to compete for the next few years anyway, so yeah giving up first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 shouldn’t be too much of a cost.

But with the Mavericks not going to sell Davis low, they would want another piece from the Pistons. And Holland’s inclusion may be where Detroit draws the line.

Holland’s top five in 2024 is a monster in defense and a powerhouse that provides so much energy off the bench. He’s only 20 years old, and giving up on him might not be too enticing for a Pistons team that wants its young core to grow alongside each other.

So the Mavericks will do it more worth the Pistons adding Christieanother piece that they brought through the Dončić store. Christie is currently more viable for the playoffs than Holland, if only because of his ability to make threes.

Christie may not be as physically imposing as Holland, but in the playoffs, that spacing will be much more important for the Pistons, especially when inexperienced three-point shooters like Davis, Duren and Ausar Thompson will be so prominent in their rotation.