From CBS Sports:
Washington Wizards: D+
For years, Anthony Davis has been considered the ideal teammate for
Trae Young. A defensive anchor to cover for him at the rim, and an all-time lob threat to work with him in pick-and-roll. Of course, we assumed this would happen with the
Lakers or
Hawks, not the Wizards, and that it would come when the two of them were held in a bit higher regard, not where they are now, a world in which Young was cap-dumped and Davis is injured and past his prime.
The basic concept of Washington trading for Young, in a vacuum,
made some sense. The team had little veteran presence. Getting a traditional point guard to organize the offense made developmental sense for their young players, many of whom had struggled to grow on a Washington team built to tank. The Wizards have leaned fully into that tank since getting Young, as he hasn't suited up for Washington since his acquisition. Davis, recovering from a wrist injury, likely won't play for the Wizards anytime soon either.
But when he does play, he raises a lot of significant questions for Washington. How many shots and touches do the Wizards want to devote to older players rather than the young talent base they've spent the past few years drafting? More importantly, how much money are they willing to devote to two players the rest of the league seemed mostly ambivalent about acquiring? A month or so ago, the Wizards were primed to have more cap space than any team in the
NBA this summer. That space, and the younger players and draft assets it could have brought, is now gone.
There has been a lot of noise about Davis wanting an extension on a new team. To put it plainly, it would be patently insane for Dallas to give him one. Davis is already owed almost $63 million in for the 2027-28 season through a player option. The 2028-29 season is when foundational Wizards youngsters
Alex Sarr and
Kyshawn George are set to start their likely rookie extensions. Davis should be off of the books by then. Will Young be? He's under contract through next season. The Wizards haven't extended him yet, and without knowing how he looks in Washington or who the Wizards draft in June, it's too early to say whether or not they should. But as we see with
James Harden most deadlines, players of a certain caliber expect to be paid long term. Young and Davis are in that dangerous territory in which they were once good enough to expect that sort of treatment but lately haven't been.
This frankly reeks of ownership impatience. The Wizards have been among the NBA's worst teams for three years now, and prior to this rebuild, had a reputation as a team that never tanked -- at least intentionally. Washington still owes a top-eight protected first-round pick to the
Knicks. They'll do what it takes to keep it. But the messaging here is clear: the Wizards expect to win next season. That's a dangerous position to be in when you're relying on Davis to stay healthy, Young to defend and a bunch of very young players to grow up fast.
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