By offloading Anthony Davis before his massive extension talks, Dallas secured versatile depth like Santi Aldama while dodging a potential $275 million salary cap nightmare.
Despite selling low on a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to trade Anthony Davis has aged quite well ... and it could eventually look even better.
Not only did the Mavericks move the most prominent remaining reminder of the Luka Doncic trade, but part of the package Dallas received from the Washington Wizards has already been put to use.
AJ Johnson and the top-20-protected 2030 Warriors first-round pick acquired in the Davis trade were among the assets Dallas subsequently used in the six-team transaction that brought Santi Aldama, Marcus Sasser and the draft rights to Tarik Biberović to the Mavericks.
Aldama is coming off a career year with the Memphis Grizzlies and will provide Dusty May with a versatile chess piece off the bench — or potentially in the starting lineup, depending on what PJ Washington’s future holds.
If you're a Dallas fan thinking, “That’s it?” the latest update on Davis’ future with the Wizards provides another reason to praise the trade ... even without accounting for Aldama’s arrival.
Per Josh Robbins of The Athletic, the Wizards will wait until the 2026-27 season to hold meaningful extension talks with Davis, despite his becoming extension-eligible Aug. 6. If Davis proactively declines his $62.8 million player option for 2027-28, he would be eligible to sign a four-year maximum extension with Washington worth approximately $275 million.
Dallas therefore didn't just convert part of the Davis return into Aldama and additional roster pieces.
It also removed itself from the possibility of eventually having to decide whether Davis should receive another enormous contract.
By January, Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, was reportedly pushing the Mavericks to trade his client.
But weeks earlier, Dallas governor Patrick Dumont was reportedly among those within the organization who wanted to see Davis, Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving play together before doing “something else drastic.”
Depending on how that experiment unfolded, there was at least a possibility that Dallas eventually would have needed to confront Davis’ contractual future.
Given his track record, would Masai Ujiri have authorized a four-year maximum extension for an often-injured star approaching his mid-30s?
It seems highly unlikely.
But because Ujiri wasn't leading the organization when Dallas initially acquired Davis — or when it delayed deciding his future — the possibility cannot be dismissed entirely.
Fortunately for Dallas’ new leadership, and perhaps more importantly, its fanbase, the $275 million question is no longer theirs to answer.
Davis is a Wizard now.
If Washington eventually makes that enormous commitment, the Mavericks’ decision to move him will look even better in hindsight.
