Anthony Davis hasn't played his first game for the Washington Wizards yet, but questions are already beginning to emerge about how long he will remain in the nation's capital. Washington is considered highly unlikely to offer Davis the maximum contract extension he could command, according to a report from The Athletic's David Aldridge and Josh Robbins. Davis became eligible during the offseason for an extension that could be worth approximately $275 million over four years.
However, Washington reportedly has no plans to make that type of financial commitment to a 33-year-old big man with an extensive injury history. "But there's almost no chance the Wizards will give him that max extension — not with his injury history, not at his age, not with the team in this stage of its development and the punitive first and second aprons looming," Aldridge and Robbins wrote. It's a decision that makes sense when considering the direction Washington is heading.
The Wizards are attempting to transition from one of the NBA's worst teams into a franchise built around one of the league's most intriguing young cores. Washington finished last season with a 17-65 record, its third consecutive season with fewer than 20 victories. That difficult stretch ultimately helped the Wizards land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, which they used to select AJ Dybantsa.
Dybantsa now joins a promising young core that includes Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington and Will Riley. Every player in that group is under 22 years old. Washington has surrounded that young core with accomplished veterans, many of whom were acquired without making significant long-term financial commitments.
They signed Trae Young to a four-year extension worth more than $210 million during the offseason and added Deandre Ayton and Khris Middleton to a roster that already included Davis. That creates an interesting balance between attempting to compete now and maintaining the financial flexibility necessary to build around Washington's younger players. A massive extension for Davis could complicate that plan.
Davis will make approximately $58.5 million this season and holds a player option worth nearly $62.8 million for the 2027-28 season. Committing another maximum contract to Davis would leave Washington with a significant portion of its payroll tied to him and Young. For a team still building around one of the NBA's youngest cores, that's a significant investment in a player who will be well into his 30s by the end of another long-term deal.
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