Anthony Davis Wants $275 Million; the Wizards Finally Get to Say 'Not So Fast'

The Washington Wizards open their preseason Thursday night in New York against the Knicks, and for the first time in years the game actually matters as a curiosity rather than a formality. Trae Young, Anthony Davis and No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa are all in the same gym. But the loudest storyline of the week isn't about the basketball yet — it's about the check.

According to reporting from The Athletic's David Aldridge and Joshua Robbins, Davis is unlikely to receive a maximum contract extension from Washington. Davis is entering the final year of his current deal and, per BasketballNews.com, had been eligible for a four-year extension worth as much as $275 million. Serious negotiations were already understood to be tabled until after the 2026-27 season. Now the reporting suggests that even when talks begin, the top of the market may not be on the table.

That's a meaningful shift for a franchise that has spent the summer being described as one of the league's most interesting teams and, depending on the day, one of its most overpaid. FanSided's Wizards coverage has already argued Washington overpaid on Young's extension and warned the front office not to repeat the mistake with Bilal Coulibaly.

Here's the counterintuitive part: this is the healthiest position the Wizards have been in years.

Washington went 17-65 last season — the second-fewest wins in a single season in franchise history — and the year before that was part of a three-year stretch of 50 total wins that ranks among the ten worst in NBA history. That's what losing by design looks like. It also delivered Dybantsa. And the roster around him is no longer theoretical: Davis averaged 20.4 points and 11.1 rebounds last season, Young averaged 17.9 points and 8.0 assists, and Alex Sarr put up 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and roughly two blocks a night as a sophomore.

General manager Will Dawkins said Tuesday that Sarr, who has been dealing with a foot issue, will "definitely be ready for the beginning of the season" and should see preseason minutes. That's the good news. The bad news remains Tristan Vukcevic, sidelined roughly four weeks with a left hip impingement, and Jamir Watkins, both ruled out for the Knicks game.

So why does the Davis contract saga matter for the season? Because it sets the terms of every conversation from now until February. The Athletic framed the open question bluntly: nothing guarantees Davis is still in Washington beyond Feb. 11. A player on an expiring deal who isn't assured of a max extension becomes a trade candidate the moment the team's record sours — and a retracted Davis rumor already surfaced in early October. FanSided even noted that a Karl-Anthony Towns trade elsewhere could complicate any Wizards return package.

There's also the on-court angle. Davis has reportedly expressed optimism about playing in Washington, and FanSided observed he isn't acting like a player angling for the exit. If he looks like his dominant self early, that cuts both ways: it raises his price, and it raises Washington's incentive to keep him.

For context on expectations, sportsbooks have Washington's season win total at 34.5, and independent power ratings slot the Wizards 29th in the league at roughly minus-15 points on a neutral floor. That's a team projected to be bad but no longer directionless.

The Davis extension story isn't drama for its own sake. It's the first time in this rebuild that Washington has real leverage — a young core worth protecting and a veteran asking for max money on the wrong side of 30. How the Wizards handle that tension will define this season more than any preseason result.