NBA Insider Says Anthony Davis, Trae Young Trades Cost Wizards 'Basically Nothing' at Deadline

The Washington Wizards shocked the basketball world by acquiring Anthony Davis from the Dallas Mavericks this week, but the move is receiving some praise within the NBA despite how unorthodox it was.

In the wake of the Wizards landing Davis after previously acquiring guard Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks, an anonymous Western Conference scout told ESPN's Tim Bontemps, "I don't blame Washington for the entry cost to get Trae and AD, it's basically nothing. The quality of the picks makes a huge difference. You can't say two picks for AD and two picks for [Ivica] Zubac and think they are the same."

The longstanding rumors of the Hawks trying to move on from Young finally came to a head last month when Atlanta agreed to send Young to the Wizards for guard CJ McCollum and wing Corey Kispert.

Then, the Wizards acquired Davis, Jaden Hardy, D'Angelo Russell and Dante Exum from the Mavs for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks and three second-round picks.

The first-round picks in that draft were the Oklahoma City Thunder's 2026 choice, which figures to be among the final picks of the round, and the Golden State Warriors' 2030 pick, which is top-20 protected.

Ultimately, the Wizards shipped out several role players, two late first-round picks and three second-round picks for a pair of multi-time All-Stars in Young and Davis.

Young, 27, is a four-time All-Star with career averages of 25.2 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 three-pointers made and 1.0 steal per game over his eight NBA seasons with the Hawks.

The 32-year-old Davis is a likely future Hall of Famer by virtue of his 10 All-Star nods, five All-NBA selections, five NBA All-Defensive Team honors and one NBA championship.

A 14-year NBA veteran with the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers and Mavericks, AD averages 24.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game for his career.

The reason why the trades were so surprising is the fact that Washington is 13th in the Eastern Conference this season with a 14-36 record.

Both Young and Davis are currently out injured, so they won't make an immediate impact, but they are both under contract next season and could help lead a quick turnaround.

Washington also has a few promising youngsters in 2024 No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr, 2025 No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson and 2023 No. 7 overall pick Bilal Coulibaly, plus a 2026 pick that could possibly land the Wizards a potential franchise-changing player such as Kansas' Darryn Peterson or BYU's AJ Dybantsa with some lottery luck.

A strong foundation is now in place for a young superstar to potentially join in Washington, and it cost the Wizards very little to make it happen.