The Washington Wizards are staring at a decision they can’t keep kicking down the road with Anthony Davis. He’s still playing like a star when he’s on the floor, but the clock is already ticking toward the Feb. 11 deadline, and Washington has to either extend him or move him. What it should not do is send him back to the Los Angeles Lakers.
That idea has floated around because Davis wants to be in LA, but the deal doesn’t line up for Washington. The Lakers simply do not have the kind of draft capital that would justify a return.
Their best trade package includes a 2032 first-round pick swap and three second-rounders, and two of those second-rounders came from Washington in the Deandre Ayton deal. The Wizards gave up two first-round selections and three second-rounders to get Davis in the first place.
Taking back far less would be a brutal loss of value.
The money makes it messier. Davis is making $58.4 million, so any trade has to work under tight salary-matching rules.
Los Angeles is hard-capped at the first apron, which means the Lakers would have to part with Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, or strip away almost all of their new depth to make it happen. That’s a steep price for a team that has already spent heavily to land Kessler this summer.
And from Washington’s side, the fit is not clean. The Wizards have Alex Sarr and can’t play him next to Walker Kessler.
Reaves is another complication, since he doesn’t fit next to Trae Young. The source material calls that pairing “the worst defensive backcourt in the NBA.”
Reaves is on track for his first All-Star season, but Washington also shouldn’t be looking to take the ball away from AJ Dybantsa by adding him. If the Lakers avoid Reaves and Kessler, the rest of the package would have to include Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Jarred Vanderbilt, Collin Sexton, Jake LaRavia, and Jaden Hardy - and Washington can’t even take back Hardy.
The Wizards also have little interest in Grimes, Mamu, or Sexton, while Vanderbilt doesn’t move the needle. Without a major draft haul, the whole thing falls apart.
That’s why Washington should be thinking bigger than a reunion in Los Angeles. The Wizards planned to come out of their rebuild and contend this season, which is why they brought in Trae Young and Davis and drafted AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick.
Davis was leading the team and playing like a superstar before an ankle injury cost him two games. Washington was 4-4 after eight games, but the last two losses made his value impossible to ignore.
First came Friday night’s 139-point defensive collapse against the Atlanta Hawks without Jalen Johnson. Then came a 39-point loss to the Thunder on Saturday.
In both games, Washington looked short on defense and short on a true alpha. Davis is their leading scorer, best rebounder, and most important defender.
If they let him leave with nothing in return, the front office will have a problem on its hands.
The extension question is what keeps the chatter alive. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst noted that Davis is at the center of league-wide discussion ahead of the deadline, and everyone knows he could become a free agent in the summer of 2027 if he chooses.
Windhorst also reported that Davis is willing to accept less than the max, though nobody knows how much less. That still leaves Washington with a hard call, especially after Trae Young signed a $212.8 million contract.
No team wants to run into the second apron, and a big Davis deal could make it harder to keep the rest of the young core intact.
For now, though, the clearest answer is the one Washington should give if the Lakers call: no. Rob Pelinka is not about to pull a Nico Harrison and trade Luka Doncic for Davis, and the Lakers’ current pieces don’t solve Washington’s problems anyway. The Wizards need more draft capital than Los Angeles can offer, and they should not be eager to take the players LA is willing to put on the table.
Washington brought this on itself by trading for Davis knowing another contract decision would be coming. Now the only way to quiet the noise is to make one.
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