Anthony Davis trade grades after shocking deal to Wizards

Anthony Davis was one of the biggest names to watch during the 2026 NBA trade deadline, but no one anticipated the Washington Wizards would be a suitor for his services. After trading for Trae Young earlier this season, the Wizards are now fully accelerating their rebuild with an incredibly bold deal for Davis as he remains out with a thumb injury.

The Dallas Mavericks finally pulled the plug on Davis, and they got a decent return for him. Here’s the full details of the trade, via Shams Charania:

Wizards get: Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum

Mavericks get: Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks, and three second-rounders

The Mavericks are receiving the 2026 Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick and a 2030 top-20 protected Golden State Warriors first-round pick.

The Mavs and Wizards are each picking a lane with this deal. It’s probably the most surprising trade of the deadline so far, partly because it didn’t leak at all. Let’s grade this trade from both sides.

The Wizards have been tanking by design since trading Bradley Beal in the summer of 2023. Washington has collected some nice young players in Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Kyshawn George, and Bilal Coulibaly, but they didn’t have a star to stir the drink. Now Washington has two potential veteran stars in Trae Young and Anthony Davis who complement each other well on both ends of the floor.

Davis was considered a top-10 player in the league before his shocking trade for Luka Doncic ahead of last year’s deadline. His Mavericks’ tenure was a massive failure, and he could never escape Luka’s shadow as the fanbase revolted. AD can still be an excellent two-way big man, but he’s getting older on the brink of his 33rd birthday, and he just can’t shake the injury bug.

Davis and Sarr creates a super long and athletic front line that can shine both offensively and defensively. Both players are more play-finishers than play creators, and that’s where Young comes in. If Young can get back to the peak of his powers, he should be able to dime up his two bigs while adding long-range shooting. Add in Johnson’s movement shooting, George’s jumbo creation, and Coulibaly’s defense, and the Wizards might have a stew cooking here.

Can Davis actually stay healthy, though? He’s owed $58.4 million in 2026 and $62.7 million in 2027, so it’s an expensive gamble. With the East wide open, the Wizards can legitimately go from worst to a contender if everything falls into place. The biggest piece of the puzzle will be Washington’s 2026 lottery pick. If the Wizards can land either Cameron Boozer or Darryn Peterson, suddenly this thing can go to the moon.

It’s a really bold play for the Wizards, but the picks they gave up aren’t that valuable. I like it.

Grade: B

The Mavericks wanted to close the book on the Luka trade, and that meant moving off Davis. Getting two firsts for him sounds great in theory, but the Thunder pick will be in the 28-30 range, and the Warriors’ pick is top-20 protected. Taking A.J. Johnson in this trade is a nice gamble on a young point guard prospect, too. It’s definitely not a great haul, but it’s not terrible, either.

The Mavs are also praying for lottery luck this year. Dallas controls its 2026 first-round pick, but doesn’t control another one of its firsts until 2031. That means they need to make this pick count now to find Cooper Flagg a star teammate. Flagg has been electric as a rookie and should become one of the NBA’s best players. It’s just going to be very hard to build around him given Dallas’ limited resources.

This trade provides more resources even if they are mostly middling. Dallas should lose a lot of games the rest of the way to improve the chances of its own pick with Davis out. The late first-round has provided some hits in recent years (Desmond Bane comes to mind), and the Mavs need to invest in scouting immediately. There wasn’t a huge market for Davis, and this deal gets his massive salary off the book for expiring contracts and picks. That’s about as good as Dallas was going to do.

Grade: B+