July 13, 2026, 7:01 a.m. PT
If the Los Angeles Lakers cannot land forward Jonathan Kuminga in a sign-and-trade deal with the Atlanta Hawks, their fans would love them to acquire P.J.
Washington of the Dallas Mavericks. Washington, a 6-foot-7 power forward, spent some time in Dallas with Luka Doncic and is regarded as a two-way player who has decent athleticism. At this point, after trading for Walker Kessler and signing Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Collin Sexton, as well as giving Austin Reaves a four-year, $185 million contract, the Lakers will have to swing a sign-and-trade deal to add any player of consequence. NBA insider Chris Haynes implied that the Mavericks may be open to moving Washington (h/t Fadeaway World). “This is, from what I’ve been told, as of yesterday, Masai Ujiri is very open to doing things, but he won’t make a change just to make a change,” said Haynes “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dallas Mavericks have something up their sleeves… Masai is up for business; he’s always open for business. So I don’t expect an ‘idle’ offseason for the Mavericks.”
In a California Post article, Khobi Price noted that the Lakers don’t like the fact that Washington has four seasons left on his contract, although he isn’t owed a large amount of money for any of those four seasons. During a Bleacher Report livestream, Jake Fischer and Marc Stein cast doubt on Washington becoming a member of the Purple and Gold.
“Who else could they turn an eye to? And Khobi Price, the beat writer for the California Post, said the Lakers would view P.J.
Washington, who would be a natural person to at least consider bringing into the Lakers, because he was on the Dallas Mavericks with Luka Doncic when they went to the Finals in 2024,” said Fischer before recalling Washington’s playoff performance in 2024. “P.J.
Washington had the best six-game stretch of his career against OKC [in the 2024 Western Conference semifinals] in that Dallas series, but he is due plenty of money over the next several seasons, and it does appear that while the Lakers shelled out a bunch of cash this past summer, that P.J. Washington is not someone that they’re looking at reuniting with Luka Doncic,” Fischer said. “I think the best P.J. Washington we’ve ever seen was when he was playing with Luka,” Stein said. “So, it’s natural for people to ask and wonder: Is there a connection? Can that connection be rekindled?”
While Washington played well against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the series Fischer mentioned, his 3-point accuracy fell to 32.5% this past season after he was at 38.1% during the 2024-25 campaign. He has career averages of 13.3 points and six rebounds a game, and his rebounding has improved over the last couple of years.
He’s regarded as a good defender who can guard both wings and big forwards, and he can also offer some weak-side shot-blocking. He was originally the No.
12 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets out of the University of Kentucky.
