Despite reports that Anthony Davis will wait until next season to make his Washington Wizards debut, the team is saying otherwise.
Wizards general manager Will Dawkins told reporters before Sunday’s 132-101 loss to the Miami Heat that he expects the 10-time All-Star to suit up for Washington before the end of the season. However, Davis’ status will likely be determined by what doctors recommend after he’s evaluated during the NBA All-Star break.
“The plan for A.D. right now is to go back to Dallas and finish his rehab,” Dawkins said, via The Athletic. “He has a really good team down there. Our doctors met with them, and our medical staff’s going to go down with him. So, we want to keep that good thing going that he has.”
Dawkins added that Davis will be with the Wizards after the All-Star break, whether he plays this season or not.
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On Friday, Prime Video’s Chris Haynes reported that Davis, 32, was expected to sit out the rest of the season to get fully healthy for 2026-27. The 14-year NBA veteran hasn’t played since early January due to a finger injury.
The Wizards acquired Davis last week in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks that saw eight different players get moved. The deal sets up Davis and Trae Young as the franchise’s two veteran pillars going forward.
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Those two players also happen to both be out with injuries right now, which is highly convenient for Washington from a draft pick standpoint. In addition to Davis potentially being out for the season, Young hasn’t played since late December due to MCL and quad injuries in his right leg. He is expected to be out until at least the All-Star break, and it seems quite possible the Wizards will exercise similar “caution” with him.
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If Davis indeed doesn’t play again, he will finish with a career-low 20 games played this season, all with the Mavericks.
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The Wizards currently hold the fifth-worst record in the NBA, and it’s a competitive race to the bottom this season due to one of the best draft classes in NBA history. It’s hard to think of a season in college basketball with so many impact freshmen, and the trio of Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and BYU’s AJ Dybantsa all loom as potential franchise-changers.
Washington is one of five teams with 14 or fewer wins this season, and not playing their two best players certainly increases their chances of sticking at the bottom. Also in the hunt are the Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks, who can take the New Orleans Pelicans’ first-round pick this year because the latter fell in love with Derik Queen in last year’s draft.
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The vision for the Wizards at this point is a pick-and-roll duo of Davis and Young, supplemented by young talents like Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and whomever they get in the draft this year. Clearly, they are already thinking about the latter.