Sports

Wizards' NBA Draft Lottery Win Continues Strange Trend Following Anthony Davis Trades

By Blake Silverman Sports Illustrated

Anthony Davis has yet to appear in a game for the Wizards since he arrived in Washington at the February trade deadline, but he may have already brought the franchise some significant luck.

The Wizards won the NBA draft lottery Sunday, receiving the No. 1 pick and the right to select their preference of a loaded class headlined by AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson and Cameron Boozer. On the surface, Davis didn't have anything to do with the luck that headed Washington's way. But, after the midseason trade, it's the third time he's been involved in a trade where one of the franchises walked away with the top pick in the next draft.

At the 2025 trade deadline, he was famously traded from the Lakers to the Mavericks in the controversial deal that sent Luka Dončić to Los Angeles. The Mavs' front office, and specifically former general manager Nico Harrison, received plenty of flak for the confounding move. Dallas's luck turned around when it won the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes in last year's lottery.

Davis was traded for the first time in his career back in 2019 when the Pelicans sent him to the Lakers in a blockbuster that sent Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball and three first-round picks to L.A. Days later, New Orleans selected Zion Williamson with the top pick in the draft. The Williamson selection wasn't involved in the trade and the lottery was already determined by the time the Davis trade was agreed to, but the timing of the now three instances where a Davis trade coincided with a No. 1 pick is uncanny.

Washington's lottery win makes two straight seasons the team Davis was traded to received the top pick in the draft. Maybe another lottery dweller will want to do the same next year for a stroke of luck.

Could the Wizards trade Anthony Davis?

Anthony Davis didn't suit up for the Wizards after the trade-deadline trade from Dallas | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Anthony Davis didn't suit up for the Wizards after the trade-deadline trade from Dallas | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Davis has two years left on his current contract: $58.5 million next season and a whopping $62.8 million player option for 2027–28. The Wizards, or any team that may acquire Davis, must operate as if Davis will pick up that massive player option. Because, well, who would turn down $62.8 million, especially in an age 34 season?

Washington could try to find a deal to move off of Davis with its newfound top pick in the fold, but that would mean another team would need to take on Davis's salary, which no team would rush to do. What the Wizards decide to do with the No. 1 pick remains up in the air. This year brings a stacked class, even beyond the presumed "big three" of Dybantsa, Peterson and Boozer. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix was in the sequestered drawing room and he reported Sunday that the Wizards could move the top pick.

Per Mannix, Wizards general manager Will Dawkins will dive into scouting and if he zeroes in on one player, Washington will draft him. If there's a player the Wizards like who could slip, the team is open to moving the top pick.

Either way, Washington was given this year's top prize that will bolster its core of young core of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington, plus the star veteran trade-deadline acquisitions of Davis and Trae Young. Davis hasn't helped the Wizards on the floor yet, but maybe he did in the drawing room.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wizards' NBA Draft Lottery Win Continues Strange Trend Following Anthony Davis Trades.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 3:30 AM.

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