LeBron James announced June 30 he was done with the Lakers, and the NBA rumor mill did what it always does — started connecting every dotted line on the board before anybody had picked up a phone. The juiciest: Golden State trades for Anthony Davis, reunites him with LeBron, and rolls out a lineup with Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Four Hall of Famers, one roster, zero phone calls actually made.
According to a source with knowledge of the Warriors’ offseason direction, Golden State has not engaged the Wizards in substantive talks about Davis. Wizards general manager Will Dawkins has separately shut down trade chatter in public interviews. The whole thing, as one report put it plainly, is speculation — and not particularly well-sourced speculation at that.
Here’s where the trail gets interesting. Klutch Sports Group, led by Rich Paul, thought it would be “super easy” to get either the Cavaliers or the Warriors to trade for Davis, sources told the Dallas Hoops Journal. Neither team wants to do it. The reason is as old as the game itself: nobody wants to pay max money for a guy who can’t stay on the floor. Davis has averaged just 47 games per season since winning the 2020 title. He played 20 games total in 2025-26, didn’t suit up once for Washington after the Mavericks traded him in February, and his jump shot has gone the way of my left knee — unreliable and getting worse.
Davis is owed $58.5 million next season and holds a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28. He becomes extension-eligible August 6, and the Wizards plan to open talks on a deal that could reach four years and $275 million. The Athletic’s Wizards beat reporter noted that Washington’s front office believes Davis’s value in developing their young nucleus — headlined by No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa and newly re-signed Trae Young — exceeds anything they’d get back in a trade package right now.
Rich Paul, appearing on the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman, was asked directly whether Davis would stay with the Wizards. “Yes. Why wouldn’t he?” Paul said. When pressed on trade rumors, he said he didn’t know anything about it. Now, an agent saying his client is staying put is worth about as much as a preseason depth chart — but combined with the Warriors’ silence and Dawkins’s public pushback, the picture is consistent: Davis isn’t moving.
Meanwhile, LeBron’s camp isn’t sitting around waiting for a Davis trade to materialize. Shams Charania reported that James and Paul are “not waiting for another domino right now.” The teams in play are Cleveland, Miami, Golden State, Philadelphia, and Minnesota — and the decision will come down to “happiness, chance to contend for a championship, join a culture.” Miami has emerged as the frontrunner, per Dallas Hoops Journal sources, because the Heat already have Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. No trade required. No max contract for a 33-year-old with a glass hamstring required either.
For Golden State, the math never made sense. Any deal for Davis would have to include Jimmy Butler for salary matching, and Butler is rehabbing a torn ACL that will likely keep him out until 2027. The Warriors have said they won’t trade him. You don’t ship out a player and draft picks for a big man who hasn’t played a meaningful minute in half a season and doesn’t want to play center. The film doesn’t lie.
Davis averaged 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in his 20 appearances with Dallas last season. The talent is still in there somewhere. But talent that sits in street clothes doesn’t help anybody, and right now, nobody’s willing to bet max money on finding out if it comes back out.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports / HoopsHype — Warriors have not engaged the Wizards about Anthony Davis
- Bleacher Report — New Anthony Davis Rumors on Wizards Contract Extension Talks
- The Athletic — Wizards Mailbag: Anthony Davis Trade Chances
- Sports Illustrated — Warriors Interested in Trading for Wizards Big Man
- HITC — Anthony Davis’ Agent Confirms Future Plans Amid Trade Rumors