The Dallas Mavericks are turning the page on most of the disastrous Luka Dončić trade last season.
Dallas is sending Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in a multi-player trade that will involve Washington sending away multiple draft picks, league sources have confirmed. Athletics.
Davis will travel to Washington with Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum. Dallas will receive Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III and draft compensation. The Wizards will likely waive Exum but plan to keep Russell and Hardy, a team source said.
According to a league source, Dallas will receive the least favorable 2026 first-round pick among the LA Clippers, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, meaning it will likely be 30th in the NBA draft order. The 2030 first-round pick came from the Wizards’ Chris Paul for Jordan Poole trade with the Golden State Warriors a few years ago, and it will only be passed on if he moves from No. 21 to No. 30. Dallas will also receive three future second-round picks, although none were originally owned by the Wizards.
The Wizards envision a frontcourt consisting of Davis, Alex Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly to be one of the best defensive backcourts in the league. This statement should not be interpreted to mean that wing Kyshawn George will not be a starter or part of the Wizards’ long-term plans. Indeed, George is a central part of Washington’s core and is highly regarded for his ability to go both ways. It’s just that Coulibaly is Washington’s best perimeter defender, and a frontcourt consisting of Davis, Sarr and Coulibaly should be a long, switchable defensive threat capable enough to help make up for Trae Young’s deficiencies as a defender.
Having Davis and Young should help Washington’s young core — which includes Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Will Riley, Coulibaly, George and Sarr — be more competitive in 2026-27 than it has been this season.
Given that Davis is recovering from a hand injury, he may only play sparingly the rest of the season and therefore not hurt the Wizards’ chances in the May draft lottery.
A league source said the deal “came out of left field.”
One reason the Wizards would be excited is that exiting first-round picks have relatively little value.
When healthy, Davis is one of the best defenders of his era. Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz agreed to a trade Tuesday for Jaren Jackson Jr., another superb frontcourt defender, in which the Jazz had to ship three first-round picks.
In terms of outgoing draft capital, the price paid by the Wizards to bring Davis on board is much lower than the price paid by Jazz to bring Jackson on board.
Dallas, meanwhile, needed to do two things with a Davis deal: cut his salary and restock its draft pick cabinet. The Mavericks had the fourth-highest payroll in the NBA, controlled only two first-round picks through 2031, and had no second-round picks until 2030, before the Davis trade. This move gives them more flexibility and ammo as they attempt to reset around Cooper Flagg.
The trade will end Davis’ tumultuous time in Dallas after playing in just 29 games in a calendar year.
The Mavericks acquired Davis last February as part of the Doncić trade. Former Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison had a long-standing relationship with Davis through Nike, with whom Harrison spent 19 years. Their report – and that of Harrison fractured relationship with Doncic — contributed to the Mavericks overlooking obvious concerns about getting the deal done, namely Davis’ health.
Davis was recovering from an abdominal strain when the Mavericks traded him. He made his debut with the Mavericks on February 8, when Dallas had a franchise-record 18 blocks in a victory over the Houston Rockets. But Davis suffered a left adductor strain in the third quarter, which kept him out of the lineup for the next six weeks.
Davis’ adductor strain was the first of four significant injuries during his one-year stint with the Mavericks. He underwent surgery to repair a detached retina in his right eye last summer. Davis then strained his left calf in Dallas’ fifth game this season, causing him to miss the next 14 games.
During the Jan. 8 loss to the Jazz, Davis suffered ligament damage in his left hand, which is expected to keep him sidelined at least until the end of February.
During Davis’ time with the Mavericks, the team was 16-13 when he played and 16-38 when he wasn’t. Davis’ inability to stay on the court was one of the largest factors in the Mavericks’ decision to fire Harrison on November 11 as the team started 3–8.
Davis, who turns 33 in March, is owed $58.5 million next season and has a $62.8 million player option in 2027-28. Davis had interest in extending his contract with the Mavericks this summer, but it became clear that Dallas would reset around Flagg instead.
The Mavericks were hoping they could become a dangerous playoff team if they could ever get fully healthy this season. This never happened. Davis and Kyrie Irving dreamed of becoming teammates for years, but only got to share the court in one game in Dallas. Irving tore the ACL in his left knee in March while Davis was still out with an adductor strain.
The Mavericks went to great lengths to make Davis feel comfortable in Dallas, as they never did with Dončic. Keith Chamberlain, Davis’ cousin, was given an official title within the team as player relations manager, and Davis’ personal security guard, Garrett Partman, was brought in as player development manager.
Davis was productive when he played, averaging 20.2 points and 10.8 rebounds, and was well-liked in the locker room. But he was never healthy enough to implement Harrison’s “vision”: contending for championships with Davis as the focal point.
It’s possible, depending on how the Lakers build around Dončić, that all of the first-round picks Dallas received in the Davis and Dončić trades could be in the mid-to-late first round. But the Mavericks needed to move Davis, whether now or this summer.
They have chosen now. It’s Flagg’s team now.
