NBA trade rumor: Dallas Mavericks could bid farewell to $88.76 million forward in a surprise deal with San Antonio Spurs
Dallas Mavericks forward PJ Washington has landed in trade rumors as San Antonio looks for a deadline addition to complement its NBA Finals roster. The Spurs are largely running things back after last season’s run, but a fix at power forward is already looking necessary if Tobias Harris keeps struggling to find his footing in the rotation.Washington just started a four-year, $88.7 million deal, and Dallas now has Cooper Flagg on the roster and a fresh extension for Naji Marshall on the books. That combination has created a frontcourt crowd the Mavericks may want to thin out. There is now talk that Washington and Harris could be the centerpiece of a swap that solves a problem on each side.
| Category | Details |
| Player | PJ Washington |
| Current team | Dallas Mavericks |
| Rumored team | San Antonio Spurs |
| Contract status | Year one of a four-year, $88.7 million deal |
| Salary cap hit | Roughly $22.2 million average annual value (based on total contract terms in brief) |
| Trade likelihood | Speculative, sourced to a single insider report, not confirmed by either team |
| Latest insider update | Tyler Watts named Washington as San Antonio’s “ideal target” in a piece on Tobias Harris’s fit issues |
| Potential return | Tobias Harris plus draft compensation, since a straight one-for-one swap does not work financially |
Why Dallas may not need PJ Washington anymore
P.J. Washington. Image via: Rocky Widner/ NBAE via Getty Images
Washington has settled into a role as one of Dallas’s most versatile defenders, someone who can guard multiple positions and knock down open looks when the offense finds him. That fit mattered most in 2024, when the Mavericks acquired him at the trade deadline after a Grant Williams signing fell short, then rode his three-and-D game all the way to the NBA Finals.Two years later, the roster around him looks different. Cooper Flagg’s arrival and a new extension for Naji Marshall have stacked Dallas’s forward group, and Washington’s name has started showing up in trade speculation as a result.
- Contract: Four years, $88.7 million, signed prior to the current season
- Prior season role: Starting forward and primary wing defender for Dallas
- Current status: Not on the trade block officially, but the subject of insider speculation tied to Dallas’s roster balance
The trade idea: Swap Washington for a San Antonio power forward
San Antonio brought in Tobias Harris on a two-year deal specifically to fill its power forward spot, but according to insider Tyler Watts, the fit has not settled the way the Spurs hoped. Watts wrote that Harris “wouldn’t be the first veteran that couldn’t find a fit on a new roster,” and flagged him as a name San Antonio could move if the situation does not improve.Washington’s defensive range and outside shooting are exactly what a title-hopeful Spurs team wants next to a still-developing Victor Wembanyama, especially with the Knicks and Thunder both shedding money this offseason instead of adding pieces. San Antonio has the draft capital to make a deal work even though Harris’s expiring money alone would not match Washington’s contract.On Dallas’s end, moving Washington clears a logjam that Flagg’s arrival and Marshall’s extension created, giving the Mavericks a shorter-term contract and future draft compensation instead of a long-term deal at a position they no longer need to fill.Hypothetical trade structure
- Dallas Mavericks receive: Tobias Harris, draft compensation
San Antonio Spurs receive: PJ Washington
What San Antonio gets out of chasing Washington
Washington gives the Spurs a forward who can guard multiple positions and space the floor around Wembanyama, which is closer to what San Antonio wanted from the power forward spot when it signed Harris in the first place. With the Knicks and Thunder both standing pat to manage their own cap situations, San Antonio has a real chance to be the team that makes a move before Wembanyama’s next contract number changes the math.
What Dallas gets back in the deal
Harris arrives on an expiring, shorter contract, giving Dallas more flexibility than Washington’s four-year deal offered, and the attached draft compensation gives the Mavericks a longer-term asset instead of another proven veteran at a position already crowded by Flagg and Marshall. It is not a direct value swap in Dallas’s favor, but it addresses the roster fit question the brief raises.Washington fills an immediate need next to Wembanyama at a position the Spurs already tried and failed to solve with Harris, while Dallas is banking more on future draft value than on-court production in return.
