The Golden State Warriors want Anthony Davis, but maybe not at the price he is going to cost them.
Shams Charania of ESPN recently laid out the expected trade tab for the 10-time All-Star center. Alongside Jimmy Butler, who the Dubs must include for salary cap purposes/compliance with current NBA rules, the Washington Wizards will ask for multiple first-round picks, multiple pick swaps and multiple second-round assets.
Charania’s report falls in line, more or less, with educated speculation from his colleague at ESPN, Bobby Marks, who suggested last week on an edition of “SportsCenter” that Golden State will have to send Butler and all three of its tradable future first-round draft selections to the nation’s capital if the team wants to acquire Davis.
Anthony Davis Trade Pathway for Warriors to Sign LeBron James in Free Agency
GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Adding Davis to the mix is a pathway to inking LeBron James for the 2026-27 campaign, which Charania told Stephen A. Smith on Tuesday, July 7 was all part of the grandest Warriors’ offseason plan heading into July.
“The Warriors’ whole plan going into free agency was, ‘OK, let’s see if we can Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, LeBron James and Anthony Davis,’” Charania said. “Short of that, I don’t think the Warriors are up on that list. I think the Warriors believe they’re not up on that list unless they’re able to go package for an Anthony Davis.”
The question becomes whether Davis, who will play next season (his 15th in the league) at 33 years old, is truly worth such a steep and long-term investment given his injury history and that the payoff with James could be limited to one season.
Davis has averaged 24 points, 10.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals across 807 games played and was also the second-best player on a title team with James in Los Angeles back in 2020. However, Davis has appeared in more than 56 games just twice in the past seven years, which represents the entire second half of his career to this point.
Warriors Can Build NBA’s Oldest Super Team Around Steph Curry With Acquisitions of Anthony Davis, LeBron James
GettySteph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
Adding Davis and James, then assuming relatively good health for each player and something resembling a full season for Curry after he missed nearly half of last year with a nagging injury, would allow the Warriors to theoretically consider themselves at least competitive in the Western Conference.
Contenders, though, might be a stretch.
Golden State also brought back Kristaps Porzingis on a two-year deal, who can start at center alongside Davis at his preferred spot of power forward and create a formidable front line with lots of rim protection. Porzingis can also stretch the floor offensively. The team also re-upped with Al Horford, who would be a backup big in this scenario at the age of 40.
James can offer Curry rest as the primary ball-handler and take some of the vast playmaking/scoring load off of Curry’s shoulders.
Those four, alongside a re-signed Green, who is still among the best defenders in the NBA, creates one of the oldest and most fragile collection of star players (given their collective ages and recent ailments) in league history — but it would remain a super team nonetheless, with arguably three top-25 players in James, Davis and Curry.
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