{"id":605645,"date":"2026-04-14T05:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T05:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/605645\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T05:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T05:49:10","slug":"anthony-davis-still-has-questions-about-the-wizards-short-term-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/605645\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Davis still has questions about the Wizards\u2019 short-term direction"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 For months, we have known that the 2026 offseason will be critical for the Washington Wizards. The keys include the upcoming draft lottery, the draft, individual improvements the team\u2019s young nucleus must continue to make, potential roster moves and the possibility of a coaching change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, add another priority to the list: making Anthony Davis feel more confident about the Wizards\u2019 competitiveness in the short term and, perhaps, resolve any concerns he might have about his contract situation.<\/p>\n

Davis reiterated Monday that he wants to have in-depth conversations with Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins over the next few months to learn whether team officials have a concrete plan to compete for a championship either next season or during the 2027-28 season.<\/p>\n

Davis also amplified something he told The Athletic in February<\/a> and said again last week on \u201cThe Draymond Green Show\u201d: Despite how impressed he\u2019s been with the Wizards\u2019 young players, he doubts that the team, as currently constructed, can go from having the league\u2019s worst record in 2025-26 to contention in 2026-27 even with himself and Trae Young on the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in this league a long time, and I\u2019ve been with losing teams, been on losing teams,\u201d Davis said Monday. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to be a losing team and then a championship contender, right? I think one team has only done it: Boston in \u201908. The only team, right? Even when I was in New Orleans and we had two losing seasons, then we made the playoffs our third year \u2014 that, within itself, is a huge jump: showing that you want to be on a path to winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s what it takes. So, if something comes out of the conversation where that\u2019s the path \u2014 and, obviously, you won\u2019t know until the season starts \u2014 that\u2019s what I would like to see. What is our plan for winning going into next season? And how? Not like this is a plan, but how do we execute that? And based on that, we\u2019ll kind of see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201csee what happens\u201d is where Davis\u2019 comments got most interesting.<\/p>\n

Did he mean he would ask for a trade?<\/p>\n

Davis stopped well short of saying that.<\/p>\n

Asked specifically whether he\u2019s operating on the assumption that he will still be a member of the Wizards when the 2026-27 season starts, Davis answered: \u201cYeah, I mean, I\u2019m under contract. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether we figure something out in the summer (that\u2019s) good or bad, whatever \u2026 if it doesn\u2019t get figured out, then come October, mid-October, late October, I will have a Washington Wizards uniform on, and I will go out there, and I will do everything I can to win a basketball game. That\u2019s never going to change. \u2026 In the summer, right now, I\u2019m going to compete, train and have the mindset that I will be here next year. Not only because I\u2019m under contract, but also, I like these young guys. I ain\u2019t going to lie. I feel like they\u2019re all my children.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something else to consider: Davis\u2019 contractual situation.<\/p>\n

In his current deal, he\u2019s due to earn $58.5 million during the 2026-27 season and possesses a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season. There has been speculation within the industry that, now that he\u2019s 33 years old and is coming off of several injury-plagued seasons, he wants a few years added to his contract.<\/p>\n

Whether the Wizards are open to adding years onto his current deal remains unclear, especially given Davis\u2019 recent injury history and given how team officials regard the long-term future of the team as revolving around a young nucleus of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, their eventual first-round pick this year and others.<\/p>\n

Monday was significant in part because it was the first time Davis sat down with Washington-area media members. His early February trade from the Dallas Mavericks to the Wizards had caught Davis (and the rest of the league) by surprise, and Wizards officials declined to make him available for questions with the media at large for the next two months. Young\u2019s trade from the Atlanta Hawks to the Wizards in January prompted a big news conference that included Young. After Davis\u2019 trade to Washington, there was no news conference.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n When he\u2019s healthy, Anthony Davis remains one of the NBA\u2019s best two-way players. (Cary Edmondson \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Still, the arrival of a 10-time All-Star, member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and key member of the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 2019-20 NBA championship team was considered a sign that the Wizards\u2019 rebuild was nearing its end. Indeed, the Wizards\u2019 marketers had included Davis alongside Young and Sarr in some advertisements for 2026-27 season-ticket packages.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Davis said that his perception of the Wizards franchise at the time of the trade was not good. But he stated that those concerns started to evaporate within several days of his arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can personally say now it\u2019s not what people think or what people make it seem,\u201d Davis said. \u201cYes, the losing is part of it, so people kind of tie that with the organization. But the organization within itself is totally different from what people think they\u2019re seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s also grown fond of the team\u2019s young players. On the bench during recent games, for instance, one of Davis\u2019 frequent conversation partners has been 23-year-old big man Tristan Vuk\u010devi\u0107, and they often appear to be laughing with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s definitely got a nice sense of humor,\u201d Vuk\u010devi\u0107 said Monday. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what to expect when somebody comes in. So, him fitting into our little goofy, young squad was great to see. Him just being involved and helping everybody, from guards to bigs, was super helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having Davis and Young on the roster, with the expectation that both former All-Stars will play significant roles next season, has given the young Wizards a hint of swagger that they otherwise would not have had after their 17-65 season.<\/p>\n

George\u2019s answer to a specific question was emblematic of that confidence.<\/p>\n

Asked what the team can accomplish next season, George answered, \u201cMany, many great things. I think we will still be playing (at) this time next year, for sure, and I think we\u2019re going to compete for something that I\u2019ve never competed for yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis isn\u2019t as sure.<\/p>\n

And making Davis more confident about the Wizards\u2019 short-term future now has to be a priority over the next several months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 For months, we have known that the 2026 offseason will be critical for the Washington Wizards.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85,7211],"class_list":["post-605645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-washington-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}