Wizards, Mavs Updated Rosters, Salary Cap, NBA Draft Picks After Anthony Davis Trade

The Dallas Mavericks are parting ways with Anthony Davis just over one year after giving up Luka Dončić to acquire him from the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Mavericks traded Davis to the Washingotn Wizards as part of an eight-player deal involving five draft picks, ESPN's Shams Charania reported Wednesday.

The Mavericks sent Jaden Hardy, D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum to the Wizards alongside Davis, according to Charania.

The Wizards gave up Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks and three second-round selections in exchange, per Charania.

The 2030 first-round the Wizards are sending is a top-20 protected Golden State Warriors pick, per Charania. The Athletic's Christian Clark, Josh Robbins and Sam Amick reported that "one of the reasons the Wizards are said to be ecstatic is that the outgoing first-round picks have relatively little value."

The trade will allow the Mavericks to drop below the luxury tax line for both this and next season, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Wizards see Alex Sarr as a power forward, potentially putting Davis on track to play as a center in Washington.

Once Trae Young is healthy to rejoin the lineup, the Wizards could potentially go with a starting five of Davis, Sarr and Young alongside Tre Johnson and Kyshawn George.

Clark, Robbins and Amick reported Wednesday that the Wizards see Davis, Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly "as being one of the best defensive frontcourts in the league."

The Mavericks, once Kyrie Irving returns from injury, could build a lineup around him and Cooper Flagg along with Khris Middleton, PG Washington and Daniel Gafford.

The biggest financial impact for the Mavericks will be moving on from Davis' contract, which included $58.5 million in salary next season followed by a $62.8 million player option, in exchange for Middleton's expiring $33.3 million deal.

Branham and Bagley are also on expiring deals, which will be set to clear up another $7.3 million in cap space after this season.

The Wizards established themselves as buyers by acquiring Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks last month.

At the time of the trade, the Wizards had $80 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season, per Marks.

The Wizards will now have both Young, who holds a $49 million player option for next season, alongside Davis' $58.5 million in salary.

The Davis trade took the Wizards from $30 million below the luxury to just $5.5 million below, per salary cap analyst Yossi Gozlan.

The Mavericks created a $20.8 million trade exception from the deal, while the Wizards used exceptions from past deals of Kelly Olynyk and Jonas Valanciuna, per Gozlan.

The Mavericks now have eight first-round picks (four tradable) in addition to five second-rounders over the next seven years, per Marks.

The Mavericks initially traded Dončić, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris for Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-rounder last February.

The return from the Davis trade means that the Mavericks ultimately brought in five players, including Christie, Middleton and Bagley, as well as three first-round picks and three second-rounders for Dončić.

After losing Irving to an ACL tear, the Mavericks ultimately never got to see their core trio of Irving, Davis and Flagg share the court together.

While the Wizards hope to have both Young and Davis healthy for next season, the Mavericks will look to use the additional cap space and draft picks from the Davis deal in order to begin rebuilding a new core around Flagg.