Anthony Davis Waited 257 Days for That. The Wizards Debut Was Worth Every One.

For 257 days, Anthony Davis was a Washington Wizard in name only. He arrived in a February three-team trade from Dallas, never suited up last season because of injuries, and spent the summer as the most theoretical superstar in the league — a 10-time All-Star and NBA 75th Anniversary Team member who existed on the roster sheet but not on the floor.

Opening night at Capital One Arena ended the abstraction. Davis put up 34 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 34 minutes, hitting 11 of 20 from the field and 11 of 14 from the line, and Washington beat Milwaukee 128-116. Per Yahoo Sports, it tied a Wizards record for points in a debut. The Athletic's account was simpler: "I had so much fun tonight."

That sentence is doing a lot of work. The version of Davis that has defined the back half of his career is the unavailable one — he played just 20 games last season, and the availability question followed him out of Dallas and into D.C. One night doesn't answer it. But the way he scored does matter: 14 free-throw attempts, a decisive interior presence, and a team total of 70 points in the paint. Davis functioning as a roller and short-roll hub is exactly what this roster was built to run through, and it produced a paint advantage of 20 points over Milwaukee.

Trae Young didn't need a jumper to control the game. Young shot 4 of 13 and 0 of 6 from three and still finished with 20 points and 13 assists in 38 minutes, getting to the line 16 times and committing just one turnover. That's the shape of the partnership: Davis carries the interior burden, Young bends the defense and manages the game. On a night when the shot wasn't falling, he still tilted it.

The supporting cast held up too. Kyshawn George scored 18 on 8-of-14 shooting in 29 minutes, and Washington finished with 28 assists on 45 made field goals.

The obvious crack: 6 of 28 from three. Washington generated 41 free throws and dominated the paint and still had to be genuinely good down the stretch against a Milwaukee team playing its first game in 13 years without Giannis Antetokounmpo. Against a set, healthy defense, that shooting line becomes a problem. The Wizards' spacing around Davis and Young is the test case for whether this is a play-in team or a nicer version of the same rebuilding one.

And the most important player wasn't out there. No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa missed the opener after spraining his left ankle in the preseason finale, and coach Brian Keefe called him day-to-day, per Yahoo Sports. That timing is brutal for the franchise's marketing plan and fine for its basketball plan — Davis's performance lowers the pressure on a rookie asked to be a savior in October. Dybantsa could debut as soon as this weekend.

Then there's the contract cloud. Davis is on the last year of his deal, and reporting from The Athletic's David Aldridge and Joshua Robbins indicates a maximum extension is unlikely, with serious negotiations not expected until after the season. That is the Wizards being rational about a 30-something big man with an injury history — and it's also a live trade variable if the partnership sours.

For now, none of that is urgent. Washington is 1-0 with a home date against Toronto on Friday, followed by a three-game road stretch through Chicago, Charlotte and Cleveland. The season's real question was never whether Davis can play; it's whether he can stay on the floor long enough for this new era to look like the one they showed off on opening night.