Jan 11, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Washington Wizards guard AJ Johnson (4) against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Wizards Aren’t Losing Much in Trading AJ Johnson

Originally posted on Washington Wizards on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Feb 6, 2026 1:03 PM ET

Many fans of the Dallas Mavericks viewed the Washington Wizards' choice to trade for Anthony Davis as their doing the Mavs a solid. Davis was more than just a specter constantly reminding the fan base of their infamous Luka Doncic backstabbing; he's also brittle and playing on a superstar's salary, all but clearing Dallas' books by willingly taking on his contract.

With cap relief featuring as the end goal of the Mavericks' front office, few exciting pieces returned in exchange for Davis. Expiring contracts in Khris Middleton, Marvin Bagley III and Malaki Branham never profiled as long-term bets, nor do the low-leverage picks that accompanied the players factor into Dallas' rebuild.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

If there's been one former Wizard for cross-country fans to talk themselves into, though, it's been AJ Johnson. He remains an unknown quantity to most, a raw, former first-round prospect who's set to suit up for this third team in a year and a half in the pros, and with plenty of years remaining on his rookie contract, he has at least a puncher's chance at influencing the Mavericks' young core.

As excited as they may be getting over his perceived upside, few Wizards fans will fret for losing Johnson. They held onto every meaningful home-drafted draftee in acquiring Davis, and despite regular opportunities, his development timeline couldn't keep up with his similarly-young teammates.

Trooping On Without Johnson

His former team's most recent win spoke to the remaining rotation's resilience without sufficient depth. With the third-stringers traded Davis and his similarly-relocating teammates still processing the transfer, the skeleton crew Wizards still pulled out a 126-117 win over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons on the road.

That logjam of higher-priority pieces ahead of Johnson in Washington's pecking order were never going to make it any easier for him to join the list of regularly-deployed Wizards, as he never took any visible steps up between his hot finish to the 2024-25 season and occasional garbage-time burn over previous months. The sub-37% career field goal shooter continued to struggle at creating separation on the perimeter, knocking down just 28% of his 3-pointers on some tough shot attempts.

Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

The Doncic-backed Mavericks were in the NBA Finals under two years ago, but they're now further behind in their rebuild than the Wizards are. They're preparing to make the leap into competitive territory behind Davis, Trae Young and their bevy of flourishing draft picks, and though Johnson was worth a flier out of the Kyle Kuzma trade, he'll get a longer-form shot at combining his athleticism with developing on-ball-skills in Dallas without so many young options to fight for minutes against.

This article first appeared on Washington Wizards on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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