Speculation of a potential Anthony Davis trade to the Golden State Warriors has elicited widespread reaction from on social media, with plenty pointing to the 10x All-Star's injury history as a reason not to pursue a move.
Yet amid all the discussion around Davis' injury worries, there's an under the radar statistic that fans simply can't ignore when it comes to the risk associated with acquiring the 32-year-old.
Jimmy Butler was just as much of an injury risk as Anthony Davis is now
In the last three full seasons before this one, Davis played 183 total games which included 76 during the 2023-24 campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers. That 183 is two more games than Jimmy Butler had played in his previous three full seasons with the Miami Heat before the Warriors acquired him in February last year.
So, in other words, we could argue that acquiring Butler last season carried with it just as much, if not more risk when it came to health and availability than what trading for Davis would now. In fact, Davis also averaged more minutes per game over the last three full seasons than what Butler had with the Heat.
It's not something we should ignore when considering the potential of trading for Davis. The truth is that there was risk associated with the Butler move, yet that's undoubtedly worked well for the Warriors as the 6x All-Star changed their fortunes last season, and remains one of their few consistent and reliable players.
There's this notion that Davis is just stuck on the sidelines all the time, something that wasn't helped by the fact he limped off the floor against Golden State with a groin injury after only 10 minutes on Christmas Day.
But perhaps the injury woes are overplayed by the fact Davis is in trade conversations, when in reality there's a strong possibility that he'd be able to play 60+ games and therefore be enough of a presence to be a real difference-maker for the Warriors.
The injury history is certainly worth noting, but the real difference here between Butler and Davis is the cost. Golden State were reluctantly willing to move 2022 champion Andrew Wiggins in a trade for Butler, but it would be a whole new level of difficulty for the front office to deal a franchise legend in Draymond Green.
They're reportedly not willing to make such a move right now, which is the primary reason, not the injury history, why a Davis trade to the Warriors remains unlikely just over a month out from the deadline.