Why is the trading value of thick eyebrows so low? Does the second villain think he can compete for the championship with him?

Anthony Davis ranks second on Fanspo's NBA Trade Simulator's popular player list, but I wouldn't recommend trying to come up with a realistic trade plan for him. This is frustrating and has the potential to put you in a bad mood.

In theory, Davis' situation should be simple: He will turn 33 in March, and the Dallas Mavericks' team-building rhythm does not match his peak period. For both parties, sending him to a team that aims to win the championship in exchange for a group of young players and draft picks may be a better choice.

However, all experts believe that the Mavericks cannot expect any team to pay an exorbitant price for Davis. It doesn’t matter that he was the centerpiece of the Luka Doncic trade less than 10 months ago, or that he was an All-NBA second-team selection 17 months ago. "There aren't a lot of teams lining up to get Davis," ESPN's Tim Bontemps said. Shortly after Nico Harrison was fired, Zach Lowe said that the gap between what the Mavericks paid to acquire Davis and what they would ultimately get in exchange for him "would set a world record for the largest single-player trade return differential in the history of professional sports."

The core problem is not that Davis weighed much more than his normal playing weight in training camp, nor that he suffered a calf strain just one week into the regular season. The real issue is his contract.

Davis’s annual salary this season is US$54.1 million, and his contract value next season is US$58.5 million. He also has a player option worth US$62.8 million in the 2027-28 season, when he will be 35 years old. In August next year, he will be eligible to sign a contract extension that can last up to four years with a total amount of up to $275 million, including an annual salary of up to $76 million in the 2030-31 season, when he will be 38 years old.

The first obstacle is to find a team that can gather the trading chips at the operational level. The management of this team must not only believe that after acquiring Davis, the team will be able to join the ranks of championship contenders; they must also believe that even if the losses caused by sending away traded players are included, the team will still have the strength to compete for the championship after acquiring Davis. The total salary of these traded players in the 2025-26 season must reach at least US$43.1 million, and the team's total salary after the transaction cannot exceed the first luxury tax line of the salary cap.

The second obstacle is finding a team that isn't afraid of paying Davis a hefty salary in the future. This team does not necessarily need to be willing to provide him with a four-year maximum salary extension next summer, but it must be confident that it can renew his contract on terms more beneficial to the team, or be willing to accept Davis as a free agent in 2027, or to exercise the player option for the 2027-28 season. It is understandably difficult to negotiate with a future Hall of Famer who is around 35 years old.

And these obstacles are only one side of the problem. Assuming Davis shines when he returns to Los Angeles on Friday to face his former team, performs at an All-NBA level over the next few weeks, and prompts some teams to want to trade for him; are these potential suitors willing — or even able — to send him multiple first-round picks? If not, will the Mavericks be interested in the young players on the table? It's easy to say the Mavericks "should" trade Davis, but I've yet to see any fictitious trade package involving him that both looks feasible and is too good a trade for the Mavericks to pass up. It's unclear what conditions would need to be met before they would accept an offer.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because we have seen similar situations with many stars under the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement framework. The trade market for Jimmy Butler was not hot at the time. In the end, the Miami Heat accepted a deal that included Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, Kyle Anderson and a 2025 first-round pick (the final pick was No. 20, and Kaspars Yakousionis was selected), sending Butler, Josh Richardson and two second-round picks. What the Phoenix Suns got in return for Kevin Durant was a drop in the bucket compared to what they paid to acquire him. The trade that ended Brandon Ingram's career with the New Orleans Pelicans wasn't technically a pure salary clearing -- they got a protected first-round pick in return -- but it felt pretty much like it, didn't it?

In the latest newsletter written by Jack Fisher for "TheSteinLine", he mentioned that the Charlotte Hornets do not intend to trade LaMelo Ball, in part because they are "unlikely to get the offer they expect." He called the situation "somewhat reminiscent of Anthony Davis' situation in Dallas." He also wrote that the Sacramento Kings "are also unlikely to get a big return" if they trade Sabonis, Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan. These players are all former All-Stars, and there's no consensus around the league that they've fallen into mediocrity. However, in addition to DeRozan's annual salary this season being less than $38 million, it will not be easy to trade for any of them in the current market environment.

Generally speaking, teams with excellent records do not want to get into complicated situations. They don't want to destroy a good system, completely change the direction of the team midway through the season, and they don't want to put themselves in salary cap trouble for years to come. As trade season approaches - the unofficial trade season will begin on December 15, when most players who signed new contracts last summer will be eligible for trade - big-name stars like Davis will inevitably receive the most attention, but they will not be the most pursued players..

If you are a team looking to strengthen, the ideal target is likely to be a young player who can complement the core of the team on both offense and defense, can defend multiple positions, does not require a lot of ball possessions, and has a relatively low contract. This is why the only player ranked ahead of Davis on the Fanspo website's NBA Trade Simulator hot player list is a fourth-year guard, Keon Ellis of the Kings, whose annual salary this season is only $2.3 million. According to "TheSteinLine", more than half of the teams in the league have inquired about his situation.