WASHINGTON — In his first public comments following his team’s trade for Anthony Davis several days earlier, Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins on Sunday said he anticipates Davis making his Wizards debut before the end of this season.

But Dawkins also emphasized that Davis will visit a doctor during the All-Star break, adding that team officials will “know more” after that medical evaluation.

On Jan. 8, Davis suffered ligament damage to his left hand while playing for the Dallas Mavericks and has not played since. Davis, 32, is also recovering from a groin strain. On Saturday, The Athletic, citing a league source, reported that Davis is unlikely to make his Wizards debut this season.

“The plan for A.D. right now is to go back to Dallas and finish his rehab,” Dawkins told reporters in Washington before the Wizards’ afternoon game against the Miami Heat. “He has a really good team down there. Our doctors met with them, and our medical staff’s going to go down with him. So, we want to keep that good thing going that he has.

“During All-Star break, he takes another visit for a doctor, and that’s a big appointment for us to kind of see where his progress is. After that, after All-Star break, he’ll return to D.C. and be here with the team.”

Anthony Davis suffered ligament damage to his left hand on Jan. 8. (Chris Gardner / Getty Images)

On Wednesday, the Wizards and Mavericks agreed to a trade that sent Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham, Marvin Bagley III, a late first-round 2026 pick and the Golden State Warriors’ 2030 top-20 protected first-round pick to Dallas for Davis and guards Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Danté Exum.

Dawkins said team officials have been in contact with Russell’s representation and that Russell will not report to Washington “as we try to figure out what’s best for him and us and our future.” Russell has a player option for next season worth $6 million, but Dawkins’ comment appeared to indicate that the Wizards and Russell could reach a buyout agreement.

On Sunday, the team waived Exum.

Davis, a 10-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player, is the centerpiece to the trade from the Wizards’ perspective.

Team officials envision point guard Trae Young, whom the team traded for in early January, and Davis helping to make Washington more competitive next season and, by extension, help the team’s young nucleus of Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Will Riley, the team’s 2026 lottery pick and others develop as they play in more meaningful, competitive games.

“A.D. is a special player, a special talent,” Dawkins said. “He obviously opens up so much on offense because he demands double-teams. He can score in different areas. Defensively, he’s been an anchor, rebounder, rim protector when you have him at the four (and) Alex at the five, protecting the paint. (With) Bilal, Kyshawn, Jamir (Watkins), some of our elite wing defenders out there, we want to be long. We want to be athletic. We want to be able to protect the paint better than we have. I think adding someone like him opens up the game(s) of a lot of our other players, but also allows him to be Anthony Davis, too.”

Dawkins was also asked how he envisions Young and Davis meshing with each other.

“Trae probably has never played with a player to the level of Anthony Davis, while also leading the league in assists and assist percentage,” Dawkins said. “You add a player like (Davis) at the rim, in pick-and-roll and (in a) two-man game, that opens it up. But again, (having) Anthony Davis (and) surrounding him with the level of shooters that we have … I think the floor is going to be spread. We’re going to have a lot of people who can make decisions, and that’s how we want to play basketball. It won’t be one person dominating the ball, and that’s not what we want. So again, adding these guys positionally made a lot of sense.”