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The Washington Wizards made a true splash as the clock to the NBA trade deadline ticked away. But the long-term outlook is far murkier than the initial headlines suggest.
On paper, giving up relatively little to pair Trae Young and Anthony Davis is amazing; it's the kind of star swing that any rebuilding team dreams about. It delivers a pick-and-roll duo and a quick climb out of the Eastern Conference basement. Yet as Sporting News senior NBA writer Stephen Noh noted in grading the deal, the Wizards still look like losers in the long view.
ESPN's Tim Bontemps reported that Washington is expected to pursue long-term deals for the two, Young and Davis. It's a path that could push their franchise's combined annual cost over $110 million and lock them into one of the league’s most expensive, injury-prone cores. That money had previously been earmarked for weaponizing cap space, buying first-round picks, and taking repeated swings at a true franchise cornerstone rather than cementing a ceiling as a middle-seed playoff team.
For a franchise that dismantled its previous roster to escape the cycle of mediocrity, this quick fix could risk sending the Wizards back into the same rut they've struggled to avoid for years.
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