For most Boston fans, the ship sailed on, ever trading for Anthony Davis a long time ago. The Celtics seemed ready to get into the mix, but AD and his camp made it clear that the Brow did not want to play for the organization. He got moved to LA instead, and the rest is history.
But a lot has changed since then as Davis has been traded twice, and now finds himself in Washington, trying to figure out his NBA future. Davis hasn’t done himself any favors in recent years, struggling to stay on the court and seeing his value completely diminished. He hasn’t exactly warmed up to the idea of playing for the Wizards with Trae Young, and now, with the results of the draft lottery, he may be more available than ever.
The Wiz won the lottery and will get to add the #1 pick, likely either AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson, to a young core with Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Will Riley, Tre Johnson, and others. Landing a blue-chip stud for the franchise to build around makes things a lot more interesting for the vets, Young and AD.
With Davis already expressing some doubts about the franchise, this could be the perfect opportunity for the Wizards to flip him for some more assets and fully lean into the youth movement.
Celtics could look to AD to upgrade frontcourt
AD should be available for a pretty reasonable price at this point, and frankly, his contract may just be a negative value at this point. The Celtics have an obvious need in the frontcourt, and Davis may be an optimal pivot if a Giannis trade doesn’t come to fruition.
The biggest hurdle for the Celtics (or any other team hoping to acquire Davis) is that they still have to come close to matching his $58.5 million salary for next season. Boston wouldn’t quite have to get all the way there, but they’d either have to send Jaylen Brown or a pupu platter of Derrick White, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard.
Neither option sounds ideal at all for a 33-year-old Anthony Davis with a rapidly deteriorating body and a $62.8 million player option for the 2027-28 season. Even without throwing in a single draft pick, those Celtics trade packages feel like an overpay. This would be a desperate overreaction to an ugly playoff loss, but not a smart or shrewd move to make.
There’s one other path, which would involve the Celtics using their traded player exceptions to bring in a big chunk of expiring salary that they could flip to Washington in a deal for AD. That won’t be easy, but it may be the best. If the Wiz sign off on this, and Brad Stevens and company can make it happen, this could be something to pursue.
But in the absence of that, this is a situation that the Celtics would be wise to avoid getting involved with.
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