Anthony Davis Wants Max Money — Washington Needs This Season to Decide If He’s Worth It
GOATIFYAnthony Davis has not played a regular-season minute for Washington yet, and already the Wizards are staring at a decision that could define the next phase of their rebuild. Davis is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract at $58.5 million, owns a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 and is eligible for an extension that can reach roughly $275 million over four years. Reporting around the league says his camp wants a deal at or near the maximum.
That creates an unusual season-long audition. Washington traded for Davis in February while he was recovering from a hand injury, so the franchise still has not seen how he fits next to Trae Young, No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa and the rest of a suddenly ambitious roster in meaningful games. Davis has said he plans to play the season and revisit his future afterward. For the Wizards, waiting is understandable. It also means every healthy month now carries financial and competitive information.
The max case starts with the version of Davis Washington has not seen yet
The easiest case for paying Davis is that the player remains elite when he is available. Across the last two seasons he has averaged 23.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 blocks in 71 starts. His 2023-24 season with the Lakers is the cleanest recent model for what Washington would love to buy: 76 games, an All-NBA selection and a fourth-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
That version of Davis would transform what the Wizards can ask from everyone else. Young can organize the offense without needing to carry the defense. Dybantsa can grow into NBA possessions without immediately being responsible for every difficult matchup. Alex Sarr can play alongside another long, mobile big rather than functioning as the only back-line answer. Washington finished last season with one of the league’s weakest records, but this roster is no longer built only around development minutes and lottery position.
Davis also gives the group a defensive ceiling that is difficult to purchase elsewhere. He can protect the rim, switch onto smaller players for stretches and erase mistakes behind aggressive perimeter coverage. Washington has talked openly about becoming a much better defensive team, and Davis is the piece that can make those ambitions realistic instead of rhetorical.
The contract question, then, is not whether a healthy Davis is worth star money in a vacuum. It is whether Washington can reasonably project enough healthy basketball to justify committing maximum-level money deep into his thirties. That distinction will shape every negotiation.
Washington is really pricing the health risk
Availability is the reason the Wizards can afford to wait. Davis has played only 71 of a possible 164 games over the last two seasons. Since the Lakers traded him to Dallas, he has appeared in just 29 of a possible 115. Washington acquired him while he was injured and never got him onto the floor before the end of last season.
That history does not diminish what Davis can do. It changes the price of certainty. A four-year extension would not be a reward for his résumé; it would be a bet on what his body can provide from age 34 onward. The apron era makes that bet more consequential because an enormous salary can limit the flexibility to correct mistakes elsewhere on the roster.
The Wizards therefore need more than a strong October. They need evidence that Davis can handle the rhythms that matter: repeated games, travel, physical frontcourts, short turnarounds and the cumulative load of a playoff chase. They also need to learn how much of his defensive value survives if his minutes are carefully managed.
There is a positive path here. Washington does not need Davis to lead the league in minutes. With Sarr, Dybantsa, Bilal Coulibaly and a deeper rotation around him, the Wizards can build a structure that asks Davis to dominate the possessions he plays rather than rescue every lineup. If that approach keeps him available, it strengthens his argument for the contract he wants while giving Washington a clearer reason to believe the investment can age well.
Trae Young and AJ Dybantsa make the timing unusually interesting
The other side of the decision is Washington’s timeline. Young is already under a long-term deal, while Dybantsa is just beginning a rookie contract after going first overall. That creates a rare window in which the Wizards can carry expensive veteran talent without immediately colliding with a massive second contract for their young centerpiece.
On paper, the fit is compelling. Young is an elite pick-and-roll creator whose range stretches defenses. Davis remains one of the league’s most dangerous screeners, finishers and short-roll threats. Dybantsa adds a powerful wing scorer who should see cleaner driving lanes when defenses are occupied by Young and Davis. If those three click, Washington could move from rebuilding curiosity to a serious Eastern Conference problem much faster than expected.
That upside is also why the season cannot be evaluated only through Davis’ box score. The Wizards need to see whether he makes the young core better. Does Dybantsa get easier shots? Can Sarr coexist with him without shrinking the floor? Can Washington build a top-half defense around Davis while preserving enough spacing for Young? Those answers matter almost as much as Davis’ individual production.
Financially, Washington has room to consider a major Davis commitment because few long-term salaries currently crowd the future books. But flexibility is valuable precisely because it creates options. Giving Davis a maximum extension would convert that flexibility into a very specific bet: that this veteran core can become good enough, quickly enough, to justify building around it.
Davis enters the season with unusual leverage and unusual pressure. If he stays healthy and Washington wins, the argument for a near-max extension becomes straightforward: elite two-way big men are scarce, the Wizards have a young No. 1 pick on a rookie-scale timeline and Young gives Davis a natural offensive partner.
If the injuries return or the fit proves awkward, Washington has to resist paying for the version of Davis it hopes to see rather than the one it actually gets. That is why waiting may be the smartest move for both sides. Davis gets a full season to rebuild his value. The Wizards get the evidence they never had after acquiring him injured.
The contract conversation will eventually be about dollars and years. For now, it is really about proof. Washington has assembled enough talent to make this season meaningful, and Davis has a chance to show that he should remain at the center of it.
