Trading Anthony Davis Was About Escape, Not Value

For Mavericks fans, it didn’t even feel real at first. The alert about Luka Doncic being traded hit phones, got re-read three or four times, and still didn’t register. The immediate reaction wasn’t anger or sadness — it was disbelief. It got to the point where NBA insider Shams Charania (who had reported the news) had to confirm that he hadn't been hacked, and that the trade was very real.

And now, a year later, it somehow got worse.

The Mavericks have traded Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in a monster deal that, on paper, moves eight players and five picks. On a deeper level, it puts the final stamp on the Luka trade era and tells you Dallas is fully, unapologetically starting over around Cooper Flagg.

Washington receives:

• Anthony Davis

• Jaden Hardy

• D’Angelo Russell

• Dante Exum

Dallas receives:

• Khris Middleton

• AJ Johnson

• Malaki Branham

• Marvin Bagley III

• Two first-round picks

• Three second-round picks

Dallas Didn’t Just Trade Anthony Davis — They Traded the Last Piece of the Nico Era

It's pretty clear that Dallas wanted out from under anything tied to Nico Harrison.

The Luka trade detonated trust. Fans weren’t just mad. They were protesting. They were chanting. “Fire Nico” wasn’t a one-night thing — it became part of the nightly soundtrack. And when you reach that point, you have a serious organizational problem.

Eventually, Harrison is gone. But the problem doesn’t magically disappear just because you removed the nameplate. The problem is what it represented. The problem is that the Mavericks had to wake up every day and know they made things harder on themselves.

So what do you do if you’re ownership and you regret the whole thing?

You don’t just fire the guy who pushed it. You erase the timeline.

Davis was the Nico era in human form: the face of the Luka gamble, the centerpiece that was supposed to justify the unthinkable. If you’re trying to change the subject, you can’t keep the subject on your roster.

That’s why the PR reset feels like the real driver. The cap flexibility is the clean explanation you can hide behind. “We’re building around Flagg,” “we need optionality,” “we’re resetting the books.” And that can be true.

But if it was just about recouping assets to build around Flagg, they would've waited to get more in return for Anthony Davis.

Asset vs. Illusion

This is where the emotional part and the spreadsheet part meet in the middle.

Dallas will tell you this is about flexibility. And mechanically, it is. There’s cap relief. There’s optionality. Depending on options and how Dallas treats the incoming deals, this can clear as much as $67 million in 2026–27 salary and potentially create a trade exception north of $20 million.

But the basketball fan part of your brain looks at the return and tells you that they didn’t try to maximize value.

Because if this was really a pure “let’s get value for Anthony Davis” trade, the headline wouldn’t feel like a salary dump. The picks wouldn’t feel like window dressing.

Here’s what Davis turned into:

• Khris Middleton, who might not even be part of Dallas’ next phase

• AJ Johnson, a young flier

• Malaki Branham, a young flier

• Marvin Bagley III, another body

• Two firsts and three seconds

And even those firsts? They’re not exactly lottery tickets you’re buying with your eyes closed.

One is OKC's 2026 first, which will be near the bottom of the round. The other is a 2030 Warriors pick that's top-20 protected. 

So what did they get?

They got out.

They got their exit. They got to close the Luka chapter and start the Flagg chapter without Davis’ contract sitting on the ledger.

The Reset Button Dallas Was Waiting to Press

Dallas’ endgame is pretty clear: they already created the flexibility, now they get to use it. It’s not about building the perfect roster today. It’s about controlling the next two years.

Even if Kyrie stays, this version of Dallas isn't trying to justify the Luka deal by winning right now. This is a franchise trying to stop the bleeding and walk into the next era with a clean face.

And on that level, this trade makes perfect sense.

Washington: The Move Might Not Be Perfect, But the Message Is

Now to the Wizards — the part of this story that’s easy to mock if you want to be cynical, and surprisingly easy to respect if you’re willing to see the intent. Washington is done tanking.

Not in the “we need more ticket sales” way. More in the “we're tired of being bad” way. The kind of tired that seeps into a franchise’s bones.

For two years, Washington has lived at the bottom of the standings. Back-to-back seasons losing 67 and 64 games will do that to you. At some point, the rebuild isn't actually building anything at all.

So the Wizards did something bad teams almost never do: they picked a direction. First, they traded for Trae Young. Then they swung again for Anthony Davis. That’s not subtle. That’s a statement.

The statement is: we have young guys we believe in — let’s put real talent around them while they develop and see if we can make some noise. And honestly? More franchises should think like that.

Bad teams love to tell themselves they’re one more draft away from being good, and then most of them wait far too long to start building around good pieces when they finally do get them.

And there’s a real cost to waiting. There’s a cost to asking promising players to spend their early years in a 20-win environment. There’s a cost to normalizing losing.

Not the Swings I Would’ve Taken

Now, as much as I love the mindset, I don’t love the pairing.

And the reason is simple: the headliners aren’t young, and they both have a history of injuries.

Trae hasn’t even debuted for Washington yet because of knee and quad issues. He played only 10 games this season before the trade. That’s not a great sign.

Anthony Davis has played only 20 games this season. He’s still a monster when he’s on the floor — 20 points, 11 boards, defense that changes how offenses can attack them — but “when he’s on the floor” has been the caveat for years now.

So yes, Washington’s idea makes sense. Trae gives you an offensive engine. Davis gives you a defensive backbone. Your young guys get to grow next to actual All-Star talent instead of picking it up as they go.

But you can’t do that if one, or both, of those All-Star talents are in street clothes.

Let’s Hope This Approach Catches On

If Washington shows even a sliver of success next season, more bad teams are going to take notes.

Because the NBA has had way too many teams stuck in this familiar loop for years:

• bad team tears it down

• bad team tanks for years

• bad team drafts promising kids

• bad team waits for those kids to become stars

• bad team realizes the kids are frustrated, the fanbase is numb, and the culture quietly rots

Washington is trying to shorten the waiting period. That approach isn’t necessarily safe. It typically isn't. But it'll be better than what they've had.

And that point is going to resonate with owners and front offices who are tired of selling patience, tired of empty buildings in February, and tired of hoping that losing today somehow guarantees winning tomorrow.

The Hardest Part Is Moving On

With the Luka trade now basically fleshed out — with Davis already flipped, with the Nico era erased, with Flagg now holding the franchise’s future — maybe Mavericks fans can finally start to move on.

Maybe they can finally stop re-living the night the trade alert hit their phones. Maybe they can stop arguing about it like it’s still hypothetical. Maybe they can just accept it as a scar and focus on what’s next.

But the second Luka makes a real postseason run in purple and gold?

All of it will come right back.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.

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