If the Washington Wizards and Anthony Davis decide to continue their relationship with an extension, he could decline his $62.8 million player option for 2027-28 and sign a four-year deal worth up to $275 million. There is absolutely no way the team should even be willing to keep him at a price tag close to his max-level deal, simply because he's not a max-level player.
Washington made the right move to wait and discuss a potential extension during the season, rather than signing him to a new deal before he even played a single game. The concern is, and has been, his availability.
Davis has played a combined 29 games since the Lakers stunningly traded him to the Mavericks at the beginning of 2025 in the Luka Dončić trade. He didn't suit up for Washington to end the season because he was recovering from a hand injury and a groin strain. Maybe he would've played if the Wizards hadn't been tanking for AJ Dybantsa, or maybe not, since he truly was injured.
At 33, his health risks will grow, which is reason enough for the Wizards not to sign AD for as much as he's worth, even if Rich Paul, his agent, refuses anything less.
Wizards extending AD could make sense at the right price
If Davis decides he wants to stay with the Wizards (he could always request a trade to a contender), he'll first need to accept that he won't get a max extension, not just from Washington, but from any other team in the league. It'd be far too risky. Taking less money on a shorter deal could work.
The Wizards have to consider future extensions for members of their young core, and if they followed up Trae Young's four-year, $213 million extension with a similar number for Davis, it'd squeeze them financially. Like every other front office, they're operating with the tax aprons in mind and don't want to ruin their future with AJ Dybantsa before it really even begins.
Even setting those valid reasons aside, it's still impossible to justify paying Davis an average annual salary close to $70 million at this stage in his career. And that will still be true if AD stays on the court for more than 60 games for the Wizards this season, though that could boost his value.
The injury concerns aren't going away, and Washington knows that, or else the two sides would've already been negotiating an extension. They still hope and believe that they'll get a dominant version of Davis, but even then, the Wizards can't pay him like he's their future, because he's not.
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