The Wizards made a huge trade on Wednesday, acquiring Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell among others in an eight-player, five-pick deal with Dallas, and it was a trade that to many seems like it came out of nowhere, especially with Davis on the block basically all season.
Count David Aldridge among those who was shocked…by the names in the move, if not the move itself.
“I was as surprised as everybody else – not that they made a deal, but that it was for Anthony Davis,” DA told Grant & Danny. “They had made it clear early this season that you would know what their plans were by what they did at the trade deadline; if they sat pat at the trade deadline, that meant they had something in their back pocket in free agency this coming summer that they were excited about, and they were going to go all in on that. But if they made a big move before the deadline, that meant that they didn't really think they could get anything going this summer with the practical cap room that they had. Well, we see what their decision was, and they clearly have said they're all in on trying to Make this team more competitive.”
DA believed that after the Trae Young deal, the Wiz were done before the deadline, with the summer trade season their next destination. But it was not, and again, while he’s not shocked by the Wiz doing more, he is still surprised that Davis ended up as the target.
“I thought if they're gonna make a move, it'll be for somebody like Jarrett Allen from Cleveland, who's a good player, who fits the timeline of the other young guys, has been in playoff series, is a very good defensive player, and doesn’t make a ton of money, but he’s a good player, right?” DA said. “That would make sense, another big guy to come in and play with Sarr, but this is a big swing, taking a chance on AD being a contributing player, and being a player who stats on the floor long enough to help your young guys get better.”
We have yet to see Trae Young on the court, and with Davis battling a wrist injury, Aldridge doesn’t see him getting much run this year, either, so it’s all about next year – but given AD’s lengthy injury history of late, can they really count on that?
“That is the puzzle and the conundrum that is Anthony Davis, and it has been for years,” Aldridge said. “Nobody doubts the talent, but it doesn't matter if he never plays, and that's been his problem for much of the last three or four years. He just doesn’t play very much.”
So, we know what Davis can be at his best – what’s the worst-case scenario of this trade, beyond the $120 million they owe him over the rest of his deal?
“The worst case is he doesn't play a whole lot for the next year and, and maybe you move him at this time next year,” DA said. “He has a player option for 2027-28 at about $62 million that he’ll pick up, so you trade for Anthony Davis at this stage of his career knowing that he's gonna want an extension – that’s the whole point; he’s not going to just play it out, he wants to be paid again. You have to decide if you're going to be the team to do that, and the Wizards will take the next six months to figure that out. It’s a tough call, but again, it depends on how many times you actually see him put the uniform on. So it’s hard to judge, but the worst case is that he doesn't play a whole lot and they move him for more stuff next year at this time when he’s technically an expiring contract, which is the new currency.”
Of course, best case is Davis and Trae Young spur the young Wizards to the playoffs next year and the rebuild is now built – and the key there, to DA and many others, is that the Wizards didn’t trade any of their young, developing first-round picks or any of their own picks.
“It depends on who they get in the draft; if it’s 1 or 2, and you get a chance to take Patterson or Dybantsa, or even 3 or 4 and you get Boozer or Wilson – this is a really good draft, and you’re gonna have to really mess up not to get a good player out of this draft, but obviously, you want to have your pick of whoever you think the best of that group is,” DA said. “It doesn’t matter what position it is, because they are not in the place where they have can draft by position, they have to take the best talent that's on the board that they see. If the draft pick becomes a star, then they have a great chance to kind of do this quickly, and it doesn't really matter if they keep Trae Young or if they keep Anthony Davis; it’ll help them, but it you don't have to put in massive resources or overpay to keep them.”
Listen to Aldridge’s entire visit with Grant & Danny above!