The Wizards Acquire Anthony Davis Out Of Nowhere

Davis is still one of the best bigs in the league, very good offensively, and borderline great defensively. The only issue with him is his inability to stay on the court, and as we know, the best ability is availability. Davis is currently injured with ligament damage in his left hand and has been out since January 8th, and is expected to be re-evaluated in mid-February. This is a walking 20 points and 10 rebounds a game with excellent defense in his sleep. Now he’s paired alongside an upper-echelon playmaker in Young and legit shooters around them. Davis has also mentioned in the past how he prefers to play Power Forward, and he still can with the 2024 second overall pick, Alex Sarr.

Davis is in year one of a three-year $175.3 million contract coming in at $54.1 million, $58.4 million, and a $62.7 million player option in the 2027-2028 season at 34 years old. Washington isn’t expensive at all even with acquiring both Davis and Young, so they can afford his humongous contract.

The Wizards’ starting five, fully healthy, is now expected to be Young, Tre Johnson, Kyshawn George, Davis, and Sarr. Washington fans should be elated that they have a future lineup like this with Young’s playmaking, Johnson’s shooting, George’s shooting and shot creation, and the big play of Davis and Sarr.

Off the bench, they have Bilal Coulibaly, who can potentially start, Will Riley, Bub Carrington, Justin Champagnie, and Cam Whitmore. This is legit depth; it’s also going to be interesting to see who the Wizards draft this season and how they fit in this whole lineup discourse.

What Does This Anthony Davis Trade Mean For The Mavericks?

Former Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison turned Doncic, a franchise icon, into Davis, Max Christie, and one measly first-round pick in 2029. Now, the new guys turn that into two first-round picks, three second-round picks, two former first-round pick players, and a salary filler. Not ideal at all, but at least Dallas has money coming off the books, and only $150 million in total guaranteed money next season.

On the other side, Cooper Flagg is a legit franchise player for the Mavericks, Christie is an elite-level role player, and Kyrie Irving will be back next season. Dallas also has a good center duo in Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, a passionate head coach in Jason Kidd, Naji Marshall, PJ Washington, and Klay Thompson. The Mavericks could still trade a couple of these players away, including Caleb Martin, but the future is bright, especially with their first-round pick this season. According to Tankathon, Dallas currently has the seventh overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

Unfortunately for the Mavericks, the first-round picks they acquired for Davis don’t look stout at all. A 2026 Thunder pick isn’t appealing; the other pick they got was in 2030 from the Warriors, and it’s protected. Golden State’s pick could’ve been a goldmine down the line, especially if it was post Steph Curry, but the protections limit the excitement. Four years down the line, Dallas has the Lakers first round pick, but Doncic will most likely still be there.

For now, the Mavericks should be looking to play some of their young players and see what they can get back for a couple of players in a clear seller’s market. Test the waters on someone like Gafford, Marshall, Martin, Washington, Thompson, and see who’s really part of the core. See if Johnson or Branham are guys, check the pulse on Nembhard or Brandon Williams. There’s no doubt that the 22-year-old Flagg is the franchise player, but who’s alongside him? This is where Dallas’ upcoming first-round pick comes in. Luckily, Irving and Lively II will be healthy next season, and they’ll have a boatload of money to spend in either free agency or by way of trades.

The End Of My Anthony Davis Rant

This is an excellent trade for the Wizards, even though Davis is a gamble with his injury concerns; he’s such a superb player. When he’s on the court, he’s still a top 15 talent and impacts winning on both ends, on top of the rebounding aspect. Two first-round picks that weren’t their own, and they didn’t have to trade one of their blue-chip young players either, great general managing from Will Dawkins.

For the Mavericks, it seemed as if they had to rid their hands of Davis and just put all their attention on Flagg, who’s coming off three straight games of at least 30 points. It has to be incredibly frustrating for Dallas fans that the guy they turned Doncic into barely got to play with Irving, and now this trio with Flagg never amassed any time together either.

It’s nice to see teams like Washington and the Utah Jazz go out and make win-now moves when they’ve been rumored to sell off pieces and continue being a bottom-feeding team. This is a decently low-risk, high-reward type of move for the Wizards since they didn’t really have to give up anything of substance, respectively.