Why Mavericks said no to Trail Blazers’ Anthony Davis trade proposal
The Dallas Mavericks turned down a trade proposal from the Portland Trail Blazers for Anthony Davis that included Jerami Grant. Here's why they said no to the deal.
Why Mavericks said no to Trail Blazers’ Anthony Davis trade proposal originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Dallas Mavericks reportedly turned down a trade offer from the Portland Trail Blazers for Anthony Davis during the 2025–26 season, prior to ultimately shipping him to the Washington Wizards in February.
The offer from Portland was centered around veteran forward Jerami Grant, sweetened with draft capital and other expiring contracts. Dallas declined the proposal due to the 2. 5 years remaining on Grant's expensive contract.
Instead, they opted for a deal with Washington that provided immediate salary cap relief by removing the "burdensome" contracts of Davis, D'Angelo Russell, and Jaden Hardy. Jerami Grant package details for failed Anthony Davis trade The Portland Trail Blazers tried to trade for Anthony Davis by offering a package centered around Jerami Grant. To make the deal work, they also included players like Robert Williams III and Matisse Thybulle, whose contracts were set to expire soon, which usually helps teams save money later.
︀︀“Sources say that the Blazers also contacted Dallas during the season to gauge the Mavericks' interest in a Grant-centric package sweetened with draft capital in exchange for Anthony Davis," reported insider Jake Fischer. They even threw in some "protected" draft picks, which are basically future player slots that Portland would keep if they turned out to be very high picks. However, Dallas said no because Jerami Grant has a very long, expensive contract, and they wanted to clear their budget rather than add more big bills.