Before the season’s even tipped off, Anthony Davis and the Wizards have already agreed to hold off on extension talks until roughly 20 games into 2026-27. That gives Davis a chance to see whether Washington can actually win, and gives the Wizards a chance to see whether he can actually stay on the floor. He became extension-eligible on August 6 for up to four years and $275.0 million, a massive number to hand a 33-year-old who barely played last season.
Washington has good reason to decline a max offer. Davis played just 20 games in 2025-26, finishing at 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.7 blocks on 50.6% shooting from the field and 27.0% from three. He hasn’t even suited up for the Wizards yet, as he arrived from Dallas already dealing with ligament damage in his left hand.
That little delay on his contract could end up mattering a lot for a team like Boston. The Celtics already made one wild move this summer, sending Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George plus some picks that aren’t doing much for them anytime soon. Brown was coming off 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, so flipping him for a 36-year-old George was a gamble from the jump.
If Brad Stevens wants to try to fix that with another big swing, Davis is one of the very few names that actually makes sense. He’s older, he gets hurt constantly, and he’s expensive, but he’s still a much better basketball player than George when both guys are healthy. And Boston’s had a soft spot for Davis for years; Danny Ainge tried to trade for him before he ended up with the Lakers back in 2019.
For now, Washington’s gone the opposite direction publicly. GM Will Dawkins has shut down trade calls, even while the Warriors were reportedly floated as a suitor trying to use Davis as bait to entice LeBron James to Golden State.
Still, the Wizards now have Alex Sarr, Deandre Ayton, and Tristan Vukcevic all in the frontcourt too, with Sarr coming off 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks a game. Washington reportedly wants to try Davis, Sarr, and Ayton together, so that’s clearly the plan for now. But if that experiment doesn’t work, they’ve got enough size up front to at least consider something else.
The Potential Trade
Boston Celtics Receive: Anthony Davis
Washington Wizards Receive: Paul George, 2031 first-round pick (via 76ers)
The salaries actually line up here without needing to throw in filler pieces. George carries a $54.1 million cap hit this season, Davis makes $58.5 million, so Boston would only be adding about $4.3 million. The Celtics sit roughly $10.3 million below the first apron, so there’s room to absorb that difference.
Washington would also walk away with the best asset Boston picked up in the Brown trade. That 2031 first-rounder from Philadelphia is completely unprotected, which is a lot more appealing than some heavily protected pick that might never actually convey. Philly could look totally different five years from now, so that pick has real upside for a Wizards team that’s still trying to build around its younger core.
Does This Make Sense For The Celtics?
I think it does, injury risk and all. Boston already took a massive health gamble replacing Brown with George, so swapping one injury-prone veteran for another doesn’t really change the main idea. George played only 37 games last year, putting up 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 43.9% shooting, while Davis played just 20. Neither one of these guys is someone Boston can trust for 75 games.
The difference is what Davis brings when he actually plays. Even in a short, ugly 2025-26 season, he still put up 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 31.3 minutes a night. His 55.1% true shooting was low by his own standards, but he was still one of the best rebounders and rim protectors in basketball whenever he was on the floor.
It also fits with where Boston already seems to be headed offensively. Joe Mazzulla has talked openly about tweaking this offense instead of just running back the same three-heavy system every year, and the Celtics have leaned harder into offensive rebounding and interior play already, jumping from 14th in offensive rebounding in 2023-24 to seventh last season. Adding Mitchell Robinson only pushes that further.
Davis would take that idea and run with it. Instead of trying to find another perimeter scorer to replace what Brown gave them (which George clearly isn’t doing), Boston could lean into becoming a bigger, more physical team built around Jayson Tatum.
The frontcourt fit actually makes more sense than it might look at first glance. Boston already has Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson at center, so Davis wouldn’t have to live at the five full-time. Queta put up 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks on a ridiculous 65.3% shooting last year, and Robinson added 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks for the champion Knicks.
That opens the door for Davis to play more power forward, which has always been his preferred spot, while Tatum slides back to the three more often. A White-Pritchard-Tatum-Davis-Robinson lineup would be enormous, and Boston could always go small-ball when it needs more shooting on the floor. Defensively, Tatum and Davis together would give Mazzulla two switchable, high-IQ players who can clean up mistakes behind the guards.
Offensively, this would push Tatum into an even bigger, more complete role, and honestly, I love that idea. He came back from his Achilles injury for just 16 regular-season games last year, putting up 21.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, then bumped those numbers up to 23.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 6.8 assists in the playoffs. The scoring wasn’t fully back yet, but the rebounding and playmaking were already becoming a main part of his game.
Boston could essentially turn Tatum into the engine of the whole offense rather than just its top scorer. Jalen Johnson gave everyone a preview of what that kind of role looks like last year in Atlanta with 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.9 assists. Tatum’s a better scorer and shooter than Johnson, so asking him to create, rebound, score, and orchestrate more of the offense could genuinely make him even better than he already is.
There would obviously be spacing issues in some lineups. Davis shot just 27.0% from three last year, and Queta and Robinson aren’t shooters either, so Boston can’t just throw two of them out there together and expect the best floor spacing. But that’s exactly why Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser are still a big part of this roster.
Even with that trade-off, I’d take it over sticking with George as the second star. He can still shoot and defend at a solid level, but Boston already knows he isn’t replacing what Brown gave them as a scorer or an athlete. Davis actually changes the identity of this team, and if he’s healthy come playoff time, a Tatum-Davis duo is one that can genuinely scare people on both ends.
The Wizards Have Nothing To Lose
From Washington’s side, this only gets interesting if the season starts badly. The Wizards finished 17-65 last year, and even with Trae Young, AJ Dybantsa, and Deandre Ayton now in the mix, there’s still a wide gap between “better” and “real contender.” They’d essentially be asking Davis to trust that this roster can leap from the bottom of the East into something serious almost overnight.
That’s a lot of pressure to put on a guy who can command up to $275.0 million over four years. Washington already gave Trae Young a four-year, $212.0 million deal, and Dybantsa is obviously the young centerpiece they’re building around for the next decade. Handing Davis another massive long-term contract when he’s played more than 56 games just once in the last six seasons would tie up a huge amount of money in two veterans before the young core is even ready to compete.
George’s deal isn’t great either, but it’s a lot easier to plan around. He’s making $54.1 million this year with a $56.6 million player option for 2027-28 that he’ll certainly exercise at his age. After that, the money’s simply off the books, so Washington could clear more than $56.0 million in the summer of 2028 rather than potentially paying Davis close to $70.0 million a season deep into his late 30s.
Washington also wouldn’t need to care too much about what George looks like as a player by then. He could start, come off the bench, get flipped in another deal, or just spend a couple years mentoring AJ Dybantsa, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, and Will Riley. The Wizards have a stacked wing pipeline, and even a declining version of George brings 16 years of experience and a real feel for both ends of that position.
The 2031 pick is really the actual prize here, though. Washington would be turning an aging star with a scary extension decision looming into a shorter-term veteran plus an unprotected first-rounder five years out. For a team still developing Dybantsa, Sarr, Coulibaly, George, and the rest of that young group, I’d rather have that flexibility than feel pressured into contending immediately just because Davis wants another max deal.
Would This Trade Happen?
Not before the season starts, honestly. Washington spent the entire summer shutting down Davis trade talk, so it would be a bizarre scenario to fend off all those rumors, go get Ayton, talk publicly about playing Davis alongside Sarr, and then trade him before he’s played a single game in a Wizards jersey.
Washington clearly wants to see this roster in action first, and honestly, that’s probably the right call. They’ve got Trae Young, AJ Dybantsa, Alex Sarr, and Davis together for the very first time, and giving that group 20 or 30 games is the right thing to do.
Come December or January, though, I could see this getting a lot more traction. If Washington opens something like 8-17, Davis misses more time with an injury, and that $275.0 million number still looks as crazy as it does now, the Wizards would have to at least consider getting out before things get harder to move. His trade value isn’t exactly trending up if he’s 34, hurt again, and still chasing a four-year max.
Boston would have its own reason to make that call too, if George isn’t clicking next to Tatum. The Celtics can’t undo the Brown trade at this point, but they could use George and one of the picks attached to him to pivot in a different direction. Turning Brown into Davis, even indirectly, would look a whole lot better than just sitting on an aging George and waiting around until 2028.
So I wouldn’t expect Anthony Davis in a Celtics jersey on Opening Night. Washington’s been way too clear about wanting to try this roster first, and trading him now would contradict basically everything the front office has said all summer. But if the Wizards are struggling by midseason and Davis still wants his max deal, Boston should absolutely be making that call.
