Earlier this week, as the Washington Wizards engaged teams on various trades, a conversation with the Dallas Mavericks took an unexpected turn. Dallas, aware that Washington was talking to Sacramento about Domantas Sabonis, wanted to know how serious those talks were. And if the Wizards had interest in Anthony Davis.
Wizards officials were surprised by the approach, sources tell Sports Illustrated. But they were interested. Among the reasons Washington swung the deal for Trae Young last month was a desire to be competitive next season. In recent years, the Wizards' win totals have looked like locker combinations: 35, 18, 13, with this season unlikely to top 20. That's positioned Washington for some high draft picks, picks that have yielded Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly and Bub Carrington.
The next step, the team reasoned, was to put them in position to win.
But Washington had a limit. None of its top young players was on the table. Neither were its most valuable draft picks. What the Wizards would do is take back some of the Mavericks' bad contracts, fork over a couple of good-but-not-great first-round picks and sweeten it with three second-rounders. After a short negotiation, Dallas agreed.
In the span of a few weeks, Washington has landed two of the NBA's most notable distressed assets. The Wizards jumped on Young when the asking price was CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. And they leaped at the chance to grab Davis when the principal cost was two picks (Oklahoma City's in 2026, a top-20 protected first from Golden State in 2030) they were willing to part with.
Davis likely isn't enthusiastic about joining the Wizards. Washington has no immediate plans to extend Davis, who has two guaranteed years left on his contract. And while being competitive is good for the Wizards, it's probably not all that Davis, who will turn 33 next month, is looking for in the final phase of his career.
But the Wizards have a plan. Be competitive over the next two seasons and hope that by 2028 its young core is ready to turn a corner. Young and Davis can help them get there. And that makes Washington a big deadline winner.
Some other notable winners and losers from this week on SI.com …
No comments:
Post a Comment