The Dallas Mavericks made a bold but expected move ahead of the Feb 5 trade deadline. They moved Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards. Well, the trade wasn’t particularly surprising, but the choice of team definitely was. Now, speaking with Draymond Green on the Draymond Green show, AD shared his true feelings about that trade.
“From the outside looking in, Dray, people don’t understand; I didn’t understand. I was one of these guys, too. I was like, damn, Washington, like what?” Davis said. The franchise hasn’t been close to the title for the last five decades since their 1978 championship-winning season.
“When you get here, you look at the facility, you look at the little details of it, the team, it’s not bad. I like the young guys. These motherf—–s can play,” AD told Draymond. “They can play hard. They are not afraid of the moment; they are not scared. These guys can really hoop.”
Therefore, it looks like the current Wizards roster is giving Davis hope. He continued, “When I talk to the GM, when I talk to the owner, when I talk to the president, I’m always going to be about winning, right? No matter what, I want to win. And if that’s here, then that’s here.”
Besides, AD understands rebuilding phases. However, he sees himself as someone with time to wait, but not for long. He’s 33. Yet he still feels capable and wants every remaining season to matter. Moreover, his priority is competing at the highest level now, and not delaying championship contention. But the current season’s story is different for the Washington Wizards. They traded for Trae Young earlier in January. Then they went after Anthony Davis.
However, both additions haven’t played a game together. While Trae suited up 5 times, AD has yet to do the same. Moreover, both stars have suffered season-ending injuries. Young has missed 11 consecutive games due to a quad and back injury, and it looks like his season is over. Meanwhile, Davis hasn’t played in January when he suffered an injury in his hand and hasn’t played since.
Now, amidst a series of conversations, the 33-year-old NBA champ also opened Pandora’s box. He still doesn’t understand everything about Feb 2, 2025. Yes, the day the Lakers traded him to the Mavericks for Luka Doncic.
Anthony Davis speaks up about the Dallas Mavericks trade
The trade that shook the NBA to its very core happened in silence. And some things still don’t sit right with Anthony Davis. He shared with Draymond Green, “I call my dad. He doesn’t believe me. Then it pops up on ESPN. My phone starts blowing up. I’m in shock.” AD needed time to process what truly happened. “I had no idea this was happening. I couldn’t make sense of it. Why?”
The frustration wasn’t rooted in being moved for Luka Doncic. Davis made that much clear—he fully understood it was just business. “Even though I didn’t understand it, from a business standpoint, I get it. Luka is Luka. The call I got was 10 minutes before the trade was announced.” In simple terms, he had no inkling about the secret trade plan.
“At some point, there had to be conversations about trading me for Luka, and it never got to me. That’s the biggest thing that f—ed with me this entire time. I feel like I deserved more respect than that,” he added.
That pain and frustration are the result of how the business went about it. Well, AD might have also imagined playing alongside Doncic at some point. But that didn’t happen. Neither did he get enough time to share the court with Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Cooper Flagg. Now, that’s in the past, and the Washington Wizards is his new home. And as Davis himself said, if he’s meant to win another title it’ll be here.
