Story byKurt HelinThu, February 5, 2026 at 2:50 AM UTC·5 min readAfter months of "will they/won't they" speculation about the Mavericks trading Anthony Davis at the deadline, the buzz around a potential deadline trade had died down, and this looked like something pushed back into the summer. Then a Davis to the Wizards trade came out of nowhere. It's a big trade, but was it a big win for any of the parties involved? Let's get into it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJust as a reminder, the trade broke down like this:Dallas receives: Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks (2026 from Oklahoma City that will likely be the 30th pick, 2030 from Golden State but top-20 protected, then it converts to a second), three second-round picks. Washington receives: Anthony Davis, Jaden Hardy, D'Angelo Russell, Dante ExumLoser: Luka Doncic tradeWe had deemed the Luka Dončić trade a loser when it happened, but this cemented its legacy as one of the worst trades in NBA history. For the record, the Mavericks ultimately traded one of the top five players in the world entering his prime for Max Christie, three first-round picks, three second-round picks, and about $40 million in cap space.