Injury Notes: Goodwin, Giannis, Embiid, Flagg, D. Green
Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, who suffered a left calf injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over Orlando, underwent an MRI on Sunday and has been diagnosed with a left calf strain, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter links).
It’s a brutal blow for the Suns, who recently lost their two leading scorers — Devin Booker (right hip strain) and Dillon Brooks (left hand fracture) — to injuries.
While it’s unclear how long Goodwin will be sidelined, a strained calf typical results in a player missing weeks, not days. We’ll have to wait for more information from Phoenix to learn the severity of Goodwin’s injury.
The 27-year-old has been a key rotation player for the Suns in 2025/26, averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals in 54 games (22.4 minutes per contest). Goodwin will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo went through a pregame workout ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Toronto, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter video link). The Greek forward, who has been out since January 23 due to a right calf strain, did some scrimmaging in Saturday’s practice, head coach Doc Rivers said, but he has not yet played 5-on-5 (Twitter link via Nehm). “We were in the gym and did some 3-on-3 stuff. 4-on-4 and 3-on-3, I think, live. That was good,” Rivers said.
- Sixers center Joel Embiid will miss his fifth straight game on Sunday due to right knee and shin soreness, writes Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. Philadelphia has been in a major rut lately without the former MVP, having lost four straight contests.
- Rookie standout Cooper Flagg was out for the third consecutive time on Sunday at Indiana, but the Mavericks forward is making progress from a left midfoot sprain, as Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News relays (via Twitter). “He’s feeling better. Had a good workout today,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll practice (in Indiana) tomorrow because of the weather (in New York). We’ll see how he feels after that practice.”
- Veteran forward/center Draymond Green was a late scratch for Sunday’s game against Denver because of a lower back injury, the Warriors announced (via Twitter). Green had not previously been on the team’s injury report.
Injury Notes: Lakers, Booker, Flagg, Strus, Claxton
The Lakers expect to have a fully healthy roster when their post-All-Star schedule tips off on Friday vs. the Clippers, according to Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group (subscription required). Luka Doncic is set to return after missing the team’s past four games due to a hamstring strain, while Austin Reaves will no longer face a minutes restriction after having come back from a calf strain in early February.
It will be just the 11th time this season that Doncic, Reaves, and LeBron James have been active for the same game. The Lakers are 7-3 in their first 10 contests with that trio healthy.
“It’s funny, we were talking before the season about building continuity with those three guys, and we’ve had them available together for 10 games,” head coach JJ Redick said on Thursday, per Royer. “My messaging this morning to the players was this is going to be a sprint, these last 28 games. It’s another segment of the season where, starting (Friday), we won’t have more than a day between games until the end of March. So we’ve got an opportunity to, I think, play our best basketball after the All-Star break.”
Here are a few more health-related updates from across the NBA:
- Suns guard Devin Booker exited Thursday’s game vs. San Antonio early due to right hip soreness, as Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic writes. Booker went to the locker room midway through the first quarter and attempted to return late in the second quarter before being ruled out for the second half. Injuries have been an issue as of late for Booker, who missed eight of 10 games prior to the All-Star break due to a right ankle sprain.
- Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg won’t play on Friday due to his left mid-foot sprain, but head coach Jason Kidd shared a positive update on the rookie star on Thursday, as Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. “He got some shots up,” Kidd said. “He’s out of the boot right now, so we’ll see how that goes.” Asked if Flagg might be able to return during the team’s three-game road trip that will conclude on Tuesday in Brooklyn, Kidd replied, “We’re going to take it day by day.”
- It has been roughly six-and-a-half weeks since the Cavaliers announced that Max Strus was due for a follow-up evaluation on his surgically repaired left foot within the next four weeks and that next steps would be determined after that exam. While there have been no official updates since then and no indications that Strus is nearing his season debut, head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed on Thursday that he still anticipates the veteran wing playing at some point this season, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).
- Nets center Nic Claxton was inactive on Thursday after spraining his right ankle during Tuesday’s practice, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Day’Ron Sharpe earned the start in Claxton’s place in the blowout loss to Cleveland.
Southwest Notes: Flagg, Irving, Durant, Coward
Cooper Flagg appeared at Saturday’s game between Duke and Clemson with a boot on his left foot, but league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Mavericks believe they’re lucky that his midfoot sprain is not a more severe injury .
There’s still no specific timeline for how long Flagg will be out as a result of the injury, according to Stein, who says the more pressing concern for the team is how to keep the star rookie’s energy and enthusiasm up through what is likely the longest losing streak of his basketball life.
The Mavericks lost their last nine games prior to the All-Star break, which Stein notes is the team’s longest losing streak since the 1997/98 season. At No. 12 in the Western Conference, Dallas is currently two games up on the Jazz and 1.5 games behind the Grizzlies, who have embarked on their own rebuild after trading Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah.
With Jackson out for the rest of the season following knee surgery and Utah owing its pick to the Thunder if it falls outside of the top eight, it will be worth keeping an eye on just how quickly Dallas brings the productive Flagg.
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- Kyrie Irving announced on Saturday that he will soon be giving an update on whether or not he plans to return for the Mavericks this season. While it would be beneficial for Dallas’ draft outlook for Irving to sit the rest of the season, Stein’s sources tell him that the decision will ultimately be a collaborative one between Irving and the team, as he writes in his latest Substack article. The decision will depend in part on whether the star point guard feels like his body needs more time to recover or whether he wants to try to work some rust off in-season.
- In the midst of his 18th season in the league, Kevin Durant is more concerned with making sure he remembers all the moves in his arsenal than adding new ones to it, Varun Shankar writes for the Houston Chronicle. “There’s so much I’m thinking about. I don’t want to forget some stuff in my package and it goes away,” Durant said. “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Shankar details the Rockets‘ star’s meticulous pregame workouts, including the balance drills designed to engage his legs. When it comes to a bad workout, assistant coach Royal Ivey puts it bluntly. “I haven’t seen one,” he said.
- Cedric Coward has gone from mystery box draft prospect to breakout player for the Grizzlies, starting 35 of the 48 games he’s played this season with averages of 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He recently sat down with Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports to talk about his rookie year and what improvements come next. When asked about lessons taken away from being guarded by some of the league’s premier defenders, Coward spoke to a late-game situation against the Thunder and Alex Caruso. “Just keep it simple. The biggest moment I learned that was when we played Oklahoma City at home,” Coward said. “Last possession, Caruso put me in a box. And I was too complicated in what I was trying to do, so for me, I wish I could get that moment back, I know I’ll have that moment again — it might not be against Caruso, but I know the moment will come again.”
Ace Bailey, Bub Carrington, Jahmir Young Added To Rising Stars Event
Jazz forward Ace Bailey, Wizards guard Bub Carrington and Heat guard Jahmir Young have been selected to participate in Friday’s Rising Stars competition as injury replacements, the NBA announced in a series of tweets.
Bailey will replace Mavericks star Cooper Flagg, who is unavailable due to a left midfoot sprain, while Carrington will take the place of his Wizards teammate, Alex Sarr, who is sidelined by a strained hamstring. Young will fill in for Bulls guard Mac McClung, who is out with a right calf injury.
Bailey will be part of Team Melo, coached by Carmelo Anthony, Carrington will be on Team T-Mac, coached by Tracy McGrady, and Young is on Team Austin, coached by Austin Rivers.
Selected with the fifth pick in last year’s draft, Bailey is part of a talented rookie class throughout the league. The 19-year-old has appeared in 48 games, making 37 starts, and is averaging 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 26.2 minutes per night with .449/.343/.708 shooting numbers.
Carrington, 20, was the 14th pick in the 2024 draft. He hasn’t missed a game in his NBA career and is averaging 10.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists in his second season with .402/.393/.761 shooting splits.
Young has spent most of the season in the G League and has only appeared in eight games with Miami. The 25-year-old is averaging 26.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 16 regular season games with Sioux Falls.
The Rising Stars event will match three teams consisting of NBA rookies and sophomores, along with a fourth team of G League players. They will compete in a three-game tournament to crown the winner.
Cooper Flagg Diagnosed With Foot Sprain
Cooper Flagg has been diagnosed with a left midfoot sprain, the Mavericks announced (Twitter link). Flagg injured the foot in Tuesday’s game against the Suns and underwent an MRI, which revealed the sprain.
The team notes that Flagg will miss Thursday’s matchup against the Lakers as well as Friday’s Castrol Rising Stars game in All-Star weekend.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that Flagg is not expected to miss additional time following the All-Star break.
The star rookie has played in 49 of the Mavericks’ 53 games this season, averaging 20.4 points along with 6.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 34.1 minutes per game.
Southwest Notes: Murray, Mavs, Middleton, Jones, Pippen
There’s still no timeline for Dejounte Murray‘s return to action following last season’s Achilles tear, but the Pelicans guard has returned to practice in a limited capacity, according to head coach James Borrego (Twitter video link). Borrego told reporters on Monday that Murray’s activity should ramp up in the coming days and the team will have a better idea of a timetable for the veteran guard after the All-Star break.
“It’s just great having him out there. I’m so proud of him,” Borrego said. “I mean, what a devastating injury, but the way he’s handle it, the way he’s attacked it, he deserves a ton of credit. … It’s just great to have him back out there. You can feel his presence, his leadership, his confidence. It’s a massive boost for this organization.”
Murray, who was traded from Atlanta to New Orleans during the 2024 offseason, appeared in just 31 games for his new team before his season came to an early end. When he’s ready to play again, he’ll be a returning to a new-look Pelicans backcourt that has lost CJ McCollum and Jose Alvarado and added Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears since the last time he suited up.
Here’s more from across the Southwest:
- While the Mavericks signaled at the trade deadline that they’re pivoting to build around Cooper Flagg, the rookie forward isn’t the only keeper on the current roster. Co-interim general manager Matt Riccardi said after the trade deadline that he thinks wings Naji Marshall and Max Christie fit “perfectly” alongside Flagg, according to Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). “We really like them as players,” Riccardi said. “We think they fit really well around Cooper, but most importantly, those guys embody what we want in the organization. We love what they bring to the table, both on and off the court, and their personalities. They’re Dallas Maverick players.”
- New Mavericks forward Khris Middleton has been viewed as a potential buyout candidate after being sent from Washington to Dallas for salary-matching purposes in the Anthony Davis trade. However, he told reporters – including Curtis (Twitter video link) – on Tuesday that he hasn’t broached that subject with the team and doesn’t necessarily plan to. “Nah, not yet,” Middleteon said when asked if he’s spoken to management about what he wants for the rest of the season. “We haven’t got to that point. Don’t know that we will. But my focus right now is just playing basketball.”
- League sources tell Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal that the Mavericks made a point to add Tyus Jones at the trade deadline because they feel like his experience organizing an offense and handling the ball will help ease the workload on the rest of the roster. As Afseth explains, the front office is hoping that Jones will stabilize the offense, not transform it.
- Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. appeared in 79 games last season, but he was never at 100%. As Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal writes, Pippen was plagued for more than three years by left toe pain that never went away. After various treatment options failed, the guard underwent a sesamoidectomy in October that delayed his season debut until last Friday. Pippen, who has 24 points, 10 assists, five steals, and a .643/.667/1.000 shooting line in his first two games back, is optimistic that the issue is – at long last – behind him. “I feel like I’m finally healthy,” he said. “… I feel way better. I’m able to run up and down the court. I can run around without pain. I can push off my toe and and bend my toe. Before, I wasn’t able to get in a lunge position. I really couldn’t put weight on my foot.”
Mavs Notes: Flagg, Middleton, Jones, Bagley
As the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in the 2025 draft, Cooper Flagg appeared likely to become the new face of a franchise for a rebuilding team. Instead, after the Mavericks lucked into the top pick on lottery night, he joined a club that already featured a pair of veteran stars – Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving – and hoped to make it back to the playoffs right away.
Less than a year later though, with the Mavericks holding a 19-33 record, Irving still not back from a torn ACL, and Davis having been sent to Washington at this week’s trade deadline, Dallas has become exactly the kind of rebuilding club that Flagg seemingly avoided last June.
In trading Davis to the Wizards, the Mavs are handing the former Duke star the keys to the franchise and placing a new level of responsibility on his shoulders, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required). For his part, Flagg seems unfazed by the change in plans.
“Honestly, it doesn’t really change much,” he said on Saturday. “I’m just gonna go out there every night and try to be consistent and try to be the best version of myself. Whatever that looks like, whoever is out there with me, I hope we just compete at a very high level.”
After a slightly slow start in the fall, Flagg has ramped up his production over the course of his rookie year. The NBA’s youngest player has increased his season-long averages to 20.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game and is shooting 48.4% from the floor and 80.6% from the free throw line. His ability to quickly adjust to the NBA game gave the front office the confidence to move on from Davis and pivot to Flagg’s timeline.
“He’s such a special individual at just 19 years old,” interim co-GM Matt Riccardi said, per Curtis. “He carries himself at a mature age. Everything he does is just natural to him. He is genuinely that person and we’re lucky to have him and grateful that we get to build a roster around him.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- While there has been some speculation that veteran forward Khris Middleton could emerge as a buyout candidate after being traded from Washington to Dallas in the Davis blockbuster, there’s no indication that’s the plan in the short term. Middleton joined his new team in San Antonio on Saturday and is hoping to make his Mavs debut on Tuesday in Phoenix, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic.
- Having traded three guards (D’Angelo Russell, Jaden Hardy, and the injured Dante Exum) to the Wizards along with Davis, Dallas tweaked the deal to make it a three-teamer that sent Tyus Jones from the Hornets to the Mavs. Head coach Jason Kidd said on Saturday he expects Jones to be “successful” with the Mavs, lauding the point guard for his “extremely high” basketball IQ (Twitter video link via Curtis). Jones had four points and seven assists and was a +18 in 17 minutes in his first game as a Maverick.
- Jones wasn’t the only new Mav who had a strong debut on Saturday in a losing effort in San Antonio. Big man Marvin Bagley III racked up 16 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks in 24 minutes off the bench. According to Curtis, his eight offensive rebounds represented a franchise record for a Mavs debut. “I just tried to go out there and play my game and be myself,” Bagley said. “It was a lot of traveling the last couple of days, coming into Dallas yesterday, doing physicals and getting right on a plane to come (to San Antonio). But that’s a part of it. That’s a part of the job. I just tried to control what I could control and do my best to be myself.”
Mavericks Send Anthony Davis To Wizards In Three-Team Deal
February 5: The trade has been finalized, the Mavericks and Wizards announced. It was officially completed as a three-team deal, with the Hornets receiving Malaki Branham and the Mavs receiving Tyus Jones. Charlotte confirmed its part of the trade in a press release.
“Anthony Davis is one of the most accomplished players of his generation, and we are thrilled to have him in Washington,” said Wizards general manager Will Dawkins. “Anthony’s championship experience and defensive pedigree bring a new level of opportunity and excitement to this franchise.”
February 4: The Mavericks are trading big man Anthony Davis to the Wizards, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports (via Twitter) that Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell, and Dante Exum will also head to Washington in the deal.
In return, the Mavericks will receive Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, two first-round picks, and three second-rounders, sources tell Charania.
Those first-rounders will be a “least favorable” 2026 pick that will almost certainly be the Thunder’s, plus the Warriors’ top-20 protected 2030 pick, per Charania. The second-rounders are Phoenix’s 2026 pick, Chicago’s 2027 pick, and Houston’s 2029 selection.
Davis had been on the trade block in Dallas for much of the season, but there was some doubt about whether a deal would materialize after he suffered a hand injury expected to sideline him for at least most of February, if not beyond that. Rumored suitors like Atlanta and Toronto appeared to back off to some extent, opening the door for a surprise team like the Wizards to make a deal.
While Washington is an unlikely landing spot for a veteran star like Davis, the 13-36 Wizards are clearly pivoting toward being competitive next season, having acquired four-time All-Star Trae Young from Atlanta last month and now pairing him with a 10-time All-Star in Davis.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the Wizards would ideally like to use second-year big man Alex Sarr as a “super-sized” and “switchable” power forward and had been seeking another impact frontcourt player to use alongside him. Washington explored a possible deal for Kings center Domantas Sabonis and had considered making a run at Jazz center Walker Kessler in restricted free agency before pulling the trigger on a trade for Davis, Fischer says.
As they did with Young, the Wizards are buying low on Davis amid an injury-plagued season in which he has dealt with several separate health issues and has been limited to 20 appearances. Although the draft-pick haul they’re giving up for AD looks substantial at first glance, the 2026 first-rounder will likely end up at No. 30, while the 2030 selection will turn into a ’30 second-rounder if it lands in the top 20.
Like Young, who has yet to make his Wizards debut as he rests a knee injury, Davis appears unlikely to play much – if at all – during the second half of this season. Washington will owe its 2026 first-round pick to New York if it lands outside the top eight, so the club will likely do all it can to avoid that scenario. Resting its veteran stars should help that cause.
Despite the modest value of the first-round picks changing hands, the Wizards’ package likely appealed to Dallas due to the financial flexibility it will afford the team going forward. Besides moving off Davis’ maximum-salary contract, which will pay him $58.5MM in 2026/27, with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28, the Mavs will remove Hardy’s $6MM guaranteed salary and Russell’s $6MM player option for ’26/27 from their books.
Besides giving the Mavericks more cap flexibility going forward, the deal will also generate considerable short-term savings, with the Wizards taking advantage of their significant breathing room below the luxury tax line to take on more than $24MM in 2025/26 salary. Dallas had been operating right up against the second tax apron but will move all the way out of apron and tax territory with this move, resulting in $57MM in savings, tweets cap expert Yossi Gozlan.
Most importantly, the trade lines up the Mavs to begin building around star rookie Cooper Flagg. Dallas will have a pair of first-round picks in a strong 2026 draft, including their own selection which is on track to be a lottery pick. And the team has a much cleaner cap sheet to work with moving forward, even with long-term deals for role players like P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford still on the books.
Still, the return for Davis stands in stark contrast to what they gave up to get him just one year ago. Under former head of basketball operations Nico Harrison, the 32-year-old was the centerpiece of the package the Mavs received for franchise player Luka Doncic. Since making that deal, the franchise has parted ways with Harrison and now done the same with Davis, conceding that it made a major mistake at the 2025 deadline.
Mavericks Notes: Irving, Flagg, Davis Trade, Kidd
The decision to trade Anthony Davis may seem like the start of a youth movement, but that doesn’t mean the Mavericks are looking to part with Kyrie Irving, Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal writes in a subscriber-only story. Sources tell Afseth that the front office sees “long-term potential” in pairing Irving with rookie sensation Cooper Flagg and they’ll be the foundation to build the roster around.
Afseth hears from league sources that Flagg’s ability to handle the ball and make early reads on offense is living up to the team’s expectations heading into the draft. Some members of the organization consider him to be the team’s best passer as well as its top scorer.
Irving has been sidelined since last March with an ACL tear, so the Mavericks haven’t gotten to seen him and Flagg on the court together yet. Coach Jason Kidd said recently that the team’s disappointing record won’t affect its plans to bring back Irving this season, and there appears to be progress on that front.
Sources tell Afseth that Irving has been conducting regular skill work with assistant coach Phil Handy and has taken part in one-on-one games against members of the Mavs’ coaching and player-development staff. Afseth, who has stated in the past that Irving is expected to be physically capable of returning to action sometime after the All-Star break, watched him play recently and reports that he looked “sharp” in the workouts, creating space on his jumper, attacking the basket with his dribble and finishing drives as well as ever.
There’s more from Dallas:
- Parting with Davis’ contract — and his uncertain future due to frequent injuries — was necessary to start building a winning roster around Flagg, Christian Clark of The Athletic and Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required) state in separate stories. Clark notes that the deal drops the Mavericks’ salary from near-second apron territory at $207.8MM to below the tax threshold at $187.9MM while helping to replenish their depleted draft stock. Curtis points out that the three players sent to Washington along with Davis — Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum — weren’t able to provide effective point guard play with Irving sidelined and were surpassed in the rotation by Brandon Williams and two-way rookie Ryan Nembhard, who may receive a standard contract later this month.
- Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News offers enthusiastic support for the trade and says whoever is responsible for putting it together should be named the full-time general manager. Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi have been sharing GM duties since Nico Harrison was fired in November.
- The Mavericks had four demands in Davis trade talks — draft assets, clearing long-term salary, roster flexibility and the ability to build for the future around Flagg — and the Wizards were able to meet them all, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. The Mavs weren’t determined to move Davis ahead of the deadline, sources tell Katz, but they recognized that his expected extension demands this summer will be higher than they wanted to pay.
- Kidd responded to the $35K fine he received for a profanity-filled tirade following Saturday’s loss at Houston, relays Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Kidd was upset at the officials for not calling a foul on a Flagg shot attempt late in the game and at reporters for questioning his use of Flagg at point guard early in the season. “I take full responsibility for that, for my actions, for my fine,” Kidd stated, “but I said what I had to say.”
Latest On Anthony Davis Trade
Rumors began to emerge Tuesday about a “secret Eastern Conference team” that might have interest in trading for Anthony Davis, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (subscription required). Those whispers turned out to be legitimate as the Wizards swooped in to acquire the 10-time All-Star, furthering a shocking roster overhaul that began with a trade for Trae Young four weeks ago.
Stein states that the Mavericks elected to take the “only palatable” trade offer that was available for Davis, who has been sidelined since January 6 with a hand injury. Stein notes that the Raptors also expressed interest in acquiring Davis, but any deal with Toronto would have required Dallas to take on unwanted long-term contracts.
Even though the Mavs got limited value in the two first-round picks they acquired from Washington and no players who fit into their long-term plans, Stein hears that they decided it was best to act now because Khris Middleton has a $33.3MM expiring contract and wouldn’t be able to be included in the deal if the teams waited until summer.
Stein adds that the primary motivation in unloading Davis is to begin constructing the roster around star rookie Cooper Flagg, with one team source saying, “The building-around-Cooper Era starts now for real.” Parting with Davis’ maximum-salary contract — and his desire for an extension this summer — gives Dallas much more flexibility to add players who are a better fit with Flagg’s timeline.
Stein shares a few more tidbits regarding the trade:
- Sources tell Stein the Wizards wanted to add Davis to prove to Young that they’re serious about becoming a playoff contender. Young holds a $49MM player option for next season, and Washington is hoping to work out a long-term extension with him this summer.
- Stein hears that rival teams have expressed interest to Dallas in acquiring Marvin Bagley III, who was in the midst of a productive season as a backup big man with the Wizards. Bagley has a $2.3MM expiring contract.
- At one time, the Wizards were projected to have about $80MM in cap room for the offseason, but Stein states that they were realistic about their chances of landing impact free agents and opted to pursue Young and Davis in “pre-agency” instead. Stein adds that Washington has been searching for a center who allows Alex Sarr to fit into his more natural position of power forward, but Davis has historically preferred to play at the four spot as well so it’s not clear how their duties will be defined.