After months of “will they/won’t they” speculation about the Mavericks trading Anthony Davis at the deadline, the buzz around a potential deadline trade had died down, and this looked like something pushed back into the summer.
Then a Davis to the Wizards trade came out of nowhere. It’s a big trade, but was it a big win for any of the parties involved? Let’s get into it.
Just as a reminder, the trade broke down like this:
Dallas receives: Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks (2026 from Oklahoma City that will likely be the 30th pick, 2030 from Golden State but top-20 protected, then it converts to a second), three second-round picks.
Washington receives: Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, Dante Exum
Loser: Luka Doncic trade
We had deemed the Luka Dončić trade a loser when it happened, but this cemented its legacy as one of the worst trades in NBA history.
For the record, the Mavericks ultimately traded one of the top five players in the world entering his prime for Max Christie, three first-round picks, three second-round picks, and about $40 million in cap space. That’s it.
To be fair, we should judge the new Dallas front office for what it did in this trade — they were not the architects of that mess. Still, Nico Harrison’s mistake casts a shadow over everything.
Mavericks fans, just remind yourself you lucked into Cooper Flagg. Things could be much worse.
Mid: Dallas Mavericks
There are positives to this trade for the Mavericks — Patrick Dumont and Dallas ownership probably love it, this was an old-school salary dump that got them out of the luxury tax. And they don’t have to pay Davis $58.5 million next season (with a player option for $62 million the following season).
It’s just hard to get past how sad a return the team got for Davis.
To be fair, the Mavericks did about as well in this trade as they could considering how Davis and his contract are viewed around the league at this point. The reality is Harrison massively overvalued Davis — or, at least, only envisioned Davis as the healthy, best version of himself — and this season, with his injuries, knocked that value down. In that context, this trade doesn’t deserve a failing grade, but the Mavericks didn’t ace the test either. Hence, the “mid” grade.
What Dallas got was a massive cap savings this season and next. The Mavericks were up against the second apron, and now they are $7.5 million below the tax line. That is a colossal savings for ownership and the franchise, and going forward, the front office (whoever is ultimately hired to run it) has more flexibility and can even take on some salary.
Still, the return for Davis is laughably bad. Middleton is past his prime and maybe they keep AJ Johnson long term, but he doesn’t exactly move the needle.
What the Mavs got were a couple of very late first-round picks, some seconds and a bunch of expiring or minimum contracts. It’s hard to imagine there wasn’t a better return out there, though this might be the return ownership prefers.
Winner: Washington Wizards
Welcome to Washington, home of the distressed asset.
Team president Michael Winger has been discount shopping, first getting Trae Young out of Atlanta for basically matching salary, and now gets Anthony Davis for what one scout texted me was “a bag of chips.” Think of it this way: Washington ultimately turned Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma into Young, Davis and five pick swaps.
Are Young and Davis worth the money on the court at this point? No. Or, at least not consistently. That said, at the price paid, bringing in a couple of former All-Star players who have had playoff success — Davis has a ring, don’t forget — to guide a young core of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington is not a bad thing.
The key is Brian Keefe and his staff making sure that having those stars does not mess with the developmental arc of the young core, plus whoever the team drafts in June.
This trade also doesn’t alter Washington’s tanking plans for the rest of the season; we will not see Young or Davis on the court for the Wizards until next season. This team is currently tied for the fourth-worst record in the NBA and should finish in that “top” four.
If both Young and Davis are healthy for a stretch of time next season, this will be an interesting team to watch (although how Alex Sarr fits as a stretch four is up for debate, but he’s young and we’re not putting him in a box).
This trade is not a home run for the Wizards, but it’s a solid single. That can start a rally.
Loser: Whoever has to write out Wizards injury reports
Not everybody’s job got easier with this trade.
Winner: Charlotte Hornets
Charlotte controls Dallas 2027 first-round pick (well, it’s top-two protected, but with Cooper Flagg and probably Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks are not going to be that bad). Next season, the Mavericks are still going to be retooling the roster around Flagg — they are not going to be terribly good. Not tanking bad, but not top four in the West either. Which means there’s a good chance Charlotte gets a solid first-round pick out of this.
The 2027 draft class is not considered as deep as this coming 2026 draft, but there will be a chance to draft a quality player, wherever Charlotte picks.
