The Anthony Davis era in Dallas is over.
A year after acquiring him, the Mavericks traded the man who will forever be known as the centerpiece return for Luka Doncic to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday in a massive deal right before the NBA trade deadline.
Davis, a 10-time NBA All-Star, will be joining the Wizards along with Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum in exchange for Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round and three second-round draft picks, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Dallas Morning News.
Social media was quick to react to the news, here are some highlights:
Mavericks
Imagine going back in time 13 months to tell yourself that Marvin Bagley would be a Dallas Maverick and Luka Doncic would not. What a weird timeline lol
— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) February 4, 2026
Mavs got more back for mummy Anthony Davis than they did Luka.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 4, 2026
The Dallas Mavericks get under the first apron and the luxury tax line in one fell swoop by trading Anthony Davis to the Wizards.
$57 million in savings and the Mavericks create a massive trade exception.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) February 4, 2026
So the Mavericks traded prime Luka Doncic for Max Christie and 3 first round picks.
Yeah no man they’re lucky they got Flagg because that’s the worst trade of all time
— LEEZUS (@AndrewLeezus) February 4, 2026
I don’t mind the trade for the Wizards. Two fake firsts, seconds, and salary filler to get Anthony Davis and Trae Young is not too shabby. Trae + AD + a bunch of promising young players in Washington…it could be worse!
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnor) February 4, 2026
Anthony Davis appeared in just 29 regular season games during his Mavericks tenure.
Dallas went 16–13 in those games. He missed 54 of a possible 83 regular season games with the franchise. pic.twitter.com/1tfYMaNdPb
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) February 4, 2026
The Wizards turned Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma trades into Trae Young, Anthony Davis and five pick swaps.
This front office has put on a clinic.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) February 4, 2026
5 players from the 2019 All-Star game have now been traded in the last 24 hours:
Anthony Davis
James Harden
Khris Middleton
Nikola Vucevic
D’Angelo Russell
A 6th is sitting tight in Milwaukee.
— Jonathan Macri (@JCMacriNBA) February 4, 2026
An NBA trade deadline week stunner. Clearly, the Wizards have completed their deconstruction phase and are now moving toward Young and Davis leading a rising young core. Washington has turned its previous Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma trades into Young, Davis and five pick swaps.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2026
While I don’t love acquiring AD (solely because you can’t rely on him due to his health), what I will say is that Winger and Dawkins are really good at the asset management game.
To turn Middleton and McCollum and two crappy picks into AD and Trae Young is pretty impressive.
— Wizards Film Room (@KevinFolliNBA) February 4, 2026
The Dumont family and Nico Harrison traded the star of the franchise for a guy who got shipped off one year later.
A masterclass in bad management. https://t.co/XZC6myT0Dk
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) February 4, 2026
The Dallas Mavericks traded Trae Young for Luka Doncic and then traded Doncic for Anthony Davis and then traded Davis for Marvin Bagley.
So if you think about it, they traded up to #2 in the 2018 draft!
— Josh Eberley 🇨🇦 (@JoshEberley) February 4, 2026
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