The Dallas Mavericks still have roster work to do before the season begins, and that has kept a few familiar names in the trade conversation. Klay Thompson has been the louder one, with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers among the teams weighing whether to wait for a buyout or try to swing a deal.
But P.J. Washington has also landed in the spotlight, especially after Dallas locked up Naji Marshall on a three-year, $52.2 million extension over the weekend.
That deal only adds to the crowd in the frontcourt, and it makes Washington look even more movable than he already did. He signed a four-year, $88.2 million extension last offseason and is entering the first year of that contract this season. Last year was uneven for him, with Washington in and out of the lineup, though the expectation is that he can get back to form now that he’s fully healthy.
If the Mavericks do decide to move him, the Lakers would be a team to watch. According to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, Luka Doncic “would be in favor of a Washington reunion” in Los Angeles.
Doncic and Washington worked well together after Dallas acquired the forward at the 2024 trade deadline. Washington quickly became a major part of the Mavericks’ run to the NBA Finals, and the fit around Doncic finally looked right before Nico Harrison traded Doncic away. Since then, the Mavericks have been in rough shape.
A deal, though, would not be simple. Dallas has set a high price for Washington and is reportedly looking for either a first-round pick or another talented player.
That makes the Lakers’ limited stash of assets a real obstacle. They can only offer a future pick swap after using most of their future capital on the Walker Kessler sign-and-trade.
Matching Washington’s salary would also be tricky. Los Angeles would need to combine the contracts of Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, and Adou Thiero, or something along those lines, and that’s before even getting a third team involved. The Mavericks are not in a position where they want to take on extra players, and getting off the Vanderbilt contract would likely require more assets.
With the Lakers short on trade chips and Dallas looking to collect them, a Washington move would take some maneuvering. It could still happen before the season starts, but for now Thompson still looks like the likelier name to be moved as the Mavericks try to get down to the 15-player limit.
In Other News...
Mavericks Suddenly Look Like A Real Threat In The West
After a rough last season, the Mavericks have spent the offseason trying to reset the conversation around them. Kyrie Irving is back in the mix, and Dallas has also reshaped both the front office and the coaching staff, part of a broader effort to build a more stable, more credible group around its core. The result is a team that looks very different from the one that stumbled a year ago, with more attention now on whether the roster has been deepened enough to matter in a crowded conference.
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins has been among those seeing upside in Dallas, calling the Mavericks underrated and pointing to the kind of depth that can keep a team in the postseason hunt. There is also optimism around the teams three-point shooting, a detail that matters in a Western Conference where every margin is tight and every weakness gets exposed quickly. The bigger question is whether all of those pieces will add up fast enough to put Dallas into the kind of race it wants to be in. [Read more 🡒]
Kyrie Irving Just Reminded The NBA What Dallas Still Has
Kyrie Irving keeps showing up in a familiar place, even in a completely different kind of game. The Mavericks guard has been given the highest ball-handling rating in NBA 2K27 at 99, and it is the third straight release in which he has owned that top spot. For Dallas, it is another reminder of just how much shot creation and one-on-one pressure Irving can still bring to the lineup.
Stephen Curry sits second at 97, with Donovan Mitchell tied into the top tier at 93, which only underscores how crowded the leagues guard talent remains. The rankings also come alongside a broader look at recent player movement and contract situations around the list, a backdrop that makes Irvings standing feel less like a novelty and more like a snapshot of where he still fits among the NBAs elite ball handlers. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Davis Trade Looks Smarter As Mavericks Avoid One Huge Risk
When the Mavericks sent Anthony Davis to Washington, the move was framed as a bet on flexibility as much as talent. Dallas got back assets that later helped in a multi-team deal for players such as Santi Aldama, along with AJ Johnson and a protected future first-round pick, giving the roster more versatile depth without tying itself to a massive commitment at the top of the payroll.
The bigger picture now looks even cleaner for Dallas because the Wizards are not racing into extension talks with Davis, despite his eligibility arriving earlier than that. For the Mavericks, that matters: it means they avoided the kind of long-term risk that can hang over a team if a stars next deal becomes the central question, while Washington is left to navigate a far more complicated timeline with one of the leagues most expensive potential next contracts looming. [Read more 🡒]