Anthony Davis remains one of the biggest names to watch as a potential trade target entering the season, particularly for a team like the Golden State Warriors who’ve shown recent interest in the All-Star big man.
Davis‘ value will be fascinating and will be dictated by his early season form with the Washington Wizards after a brutal stretch of injury concerns over the past 18 months. However, at least for the time being, the Warriors may still appear best positioned to acquire the 33-year-old if the Wizards choose not to extend him and instead place him on the trade market.
Warriors may still be best positioned for Anthony Davis trade
Speaking on the latest episode of the Third Apron podcast, Sam Quinn and Yossi Gozlan went through potential destinations for Davis during the middle of this upcoming season. But after going through such teams as the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks among others, Gozlan assessed that it’s still Golden State who makes the most sense for Davis.
"The one that I thought was the best fit for them last year, and I like them now, were the Warriors," Gozlan said. "But if they're going to continue to run it back with Curry and all these other guys, I kind of like the idea of AD being in the mix there."
The Warriors flirted with a Davis trade this offseason amid their free agency pursuit of former championship teammate LeBron James, but thought better of it due to his injury concerns and impending contract extension.
The issue is these concerns aren’t going away. Even if Davis is consistently on the floor for the Wizards through the first half of the season, there will always be an injury cloud over the 10x All-star. If he can get back on the floor consistently, that will also only increase the demand he and agent Rich Paul have on his next contract.
This is why, as Gozlan outlined, Golden State will seemingly only make a move for Davis it if comes at a cheap price from a trade standpoint, and if there’s an agreeable extension that’s short-term and not close to the max.
Anthony Davis could still be major Warriors trade target
Those parameters still fit within what the Warriors have historically looked for in recent years, and what they could look for again as they come towards the end of the Stephen Curry era.
Golden State haven’t traded multiple first-round picks in a deal for over a decade, and they also haven’t handed out long-term max extensions in recent seasons. Their last blockbuster trade for Jimmy Butler in February last year came for the price of one first-round pick (20th overall), and while the six-time All-Star did get a max deal, it was only for two years.
There remains a legitimate possibility we could see something similar with Davis. That will all depend on how the respective teams and he himself begins what is a crucial season that will lay the foundation for the remainder of his career.
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