The Dallas Mavericks may not look the same for long, and the names most likely to come up if the roster starts shifting are P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford.
That’s where the early trade chatter is pointing. Both players are productive, both carry real value, and both could become tough fits for a frontcourt that only has so many minutes to hand out.
As SI’s Austin Veazey put it, “That has fans looking at possible trades looming for P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, two of the four highest-paid players on the roster.
It's not that they're bad players, as they're both quite productive, but there are only so many minutes to go around in the frontcourt, and they likely have the most trade value of the veterans outside of Kyrie Irving,”
Irving, though, is the bigger name hovering over all of this. Dallas has pushed back on trade interest in him all offseason, but that hasn’t stopped other teams from wondering what happens if the season doesn’t break the right way.
The Stein Line’s Marc Stein wrote, “The Mavericks, as we've been writing since mid-June, have consistently swatted away trade interest this offseason in nine-times-an-All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. Rival teams, however, continue to wonder aloud about how firmly Dallas will stick to that stance once the season begins and the next in-season trade deadline on Feb. 11 gradually approaches.
The primary factor fueling that curiosity, of course, is that fact that Irving is 34 and Mavericks star forward Cooper Flagg is 19. Not your average age gap between the team's two best players,”
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley took that possibility and built it into a three-team deal that would send Irving to the Detroit Pistons and move Washington to the Golden State Warriors.
In Buckley’s proposal, “Detroit Pistons receive: Kyrie Irving and Naji Marshall. Golden State Warriors receive: P.J.
Washington, Taurean Prince*, 2027 second-round pick (from MIL, via DET) and 2028 second-round pick (from CHO or LAC, via DET). Dallas Mavericks receive: Ron Holland II, Brandin Podziemski, Daniss Jenkins, Moses Moody, Duncan Robinson and 2028 first-round pick (via DET),”
For Golden State, the appeal is straightforward: Washington would bring another versatile frontcourt option, while Prince would add veteran depth. The Warriors are still searching for ways to keep building a roster that can support Steph Curry and stay in the hunt during the final stretch of his career.
The deal would also give Dallas a large return package of young players, veterans and draft capital, while Detroit would land the headliner in Irving. In Buckley’s framework, it’s a move that could push all three teams in different directions, with Irving at the center of it all.
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