In a surprising turn of events, the Dallas Mavericks not only managed to trade Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards, but they even managed to get assets in return.
The transaction is as follows:
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Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum were traded to the Washington Wizards for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malachi Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks and three second-round picks.
The quality of the picks wasn’t great (a 2026 debutant from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and a 2030 protected pick from the Golden State Warriors), but the fact that the Mavericks didn’t end up giving up a pick to get rid of Davis’ contract is a win in itself.
Let’s get right into some grades.
Dallas Mavericks: A
There’s no other way around this: The Mavericks lost Everest in the Luka Doncic trade, but at least they won this one.
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With the aging Davis seemingly unable to stay healthy and still one of the most expensive acquisitions in the NBA, he shouldn’t have any positive trade value at all, and yet, here we are.
The Mavericks also found a new home for D’Angelo Russell, a player who has struggled to find his groove and has seen a sharp decline in form in recent years.
They now get a lot of salary flexibility to build around Cooper Flagg, which is the plan since he was drafted last summer.
Washington Wizards 😀
Oh oh, guys.
While the Wizards didn’t give up a juicy No. 1, they did give up a draft pick, which seems odd since they spent a lot of money on a player who is about to turn 33 and has been in and out of the lineup and declining rapidly.
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Look, I get it. With Trae Young and Anthony Davis as the main pillars, there are also a number of young players as supporting roles. That would be great if they were both healthy, but since that’s not something you can count on, the risk here is pretty high.
In addition, both Davis and Alexander Sarr expressed dissatisfaction with playing center and preferred to play power forward. So, uh, you know, good luck to you.
