6:43pm: The deal is official, according to press releases from both teams. The Hornets’ announcement indicates that the two draft picks they sent to Dallas are second-rounders in 2024 and 2028.
Charlotte’s lone 2024 second-round selection is Boston’s pick, so that will presumably be the one headed to the Mavericks. The Hornets own the Clippers’ 2028 second-rounder as well as their own, so it’s unclear which of those was included in the deal.
The Hornets didn’t announce in their press release which player they waived to complete the one-for-two trade, but an earlier report stated that James Bouknight was being let go.
12:07pm: The Hornets will send P.J. Washington to the Mavericks in exchange for Grant Williams, Seth Curry and a first-round pick, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The pick will be Dallas’ 2027 selection, which will be top-two protected, Charania adds (Twitter link). In return, the Mavs will get two second-rounders from Charlotte.
Dallas was willing to part with its last tradeable first-rounder so it could keep Josh Green out of the deal, sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Washington provides Dallas with a reliable frontcourt scorer on a manageable long-term contract. He’s signed through the 2025/26 season with annual salaries of $16.8MM, $15.5MM and $14.1MM and has a bonus of $500K if he plays at least 74 games or 2,400 minutes, which is considered unlikely, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 25-year-old forward has been with Charlotte since being selected with the 12th pick in the 2019 draft. He was used mainly off the bench this year after starting last season and was averaging 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 44 games.
The Mavericks find a way to move off the four-year deal they gave Williams last summer in a sign-and-trade with Boston. He’s making $12.4MM this year and is owed $13MM, $13.6MM and $14.2MM over the next three seasons. Williams, 25, hadn’t provided the fit that Dallas was hoping for and was averaging just 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per night.
Curry, who heads to his hometown in the trade, is effectively an expiring contract as his $4MM salary for next season is non-guaranteed. The 33-year-old shooting specialist appeared in 36 games after signing with the Mavericks last summer, but was averaging just 4.3 PPG and playing 12.7 minutes per night.
PJ Washington is 35% from 3’s in his career, and isn’t really a difference maker. This 2027 pick to Charlotte might haunt them since its only top 2 protected.
Not sure how to feel about this one if I am a Mavericks fan.
as a mavs fan i’m very happy. everyone’s 3p% increases in our heliocentric offense next to luka getting them wide open shots and he solves our length issues. with gafford off the bench we’re a scary team now and we still have two firsts to trade in the off season to improve even more. this was a good move
He’s never gotten much of a chance to play for good teams. He’s not some star, but he does almost everything well. He’s well-equipped to play both forward spots and is a better offensive player than Grant Williams without a defensive drop-off. He can even play some Center in small-ball lineups. The increased physicality of this Mavs lineup without a drop in shooting is a good sign.
But is he worth a top 2 protected pick only? That’s my concern.
I don’t think it’s as bad as people think. As long as Luka is still in Dallas, they aren’t going to fall that far. The back end of the lottery is about as bad as it can get.
If Luka leaves at some point or misses most of the 2027 season with injury or something, then yeah, it was a bad trade. But given the Mavs personnel, it’s essentially a lottery-protected first at the moment.
The Mavericks have *NEVER* benefitted from the NBA Lottery, so to put any chips down on 2027 being the year they finally do seems like the worst bet one could make.
I agree. I honestly don’t see that much difference between PJ and Grant, that’s with Grant having a down year offensively. PJ is going to have better total offensive numbers because he is on a bad team and shoots twice as much as Grant does. Is he going to be as effective with less shots even if they are better looks, that’s debatable. I mean Rozier has taken a step back, but he went to a better team. PJ does have more length than Grant and can get more boards, but mostly the same otherwise imo and PJ is getting paid more. Not worth Grant and basically an unprotected 1st unless they absolutely needed the 2nds in this trade to get the Gafford trade done. If that IS the case then I would say it is an ok deal.
Given that the Mavs reported deal with the Thunder seems to be going nowhere, it’s likely.
Also, the difference is that Rozier went from first option to like fourth. And PJ is going from third to… third.
I get that with Rozier, but he has been less effective with his chances nonetheless. Grant takes like 6-7 shots a game right now while PJ is taking 12-13. I don’t care which option PJ is (most likely 4th or 5th like he was when CHA was healthy), he’ll be taking less shots and I think that will hurt his effectiveness. That will in turn make him much more similar to Grant, apart from the stuff he DOES bring that I outlined earlier. And like I said if the 1st was necessary to get the 2nds for Gafford then that is fine. If not they seem like very similar players for Dallas to give an essentially unprotected 1st for and pay more. If the salaries were flipped then it would make more sense as a stand alone trade.
I disagree. Grant’s 6.7 FGA per game is a career high for him. Washington is much, MUCH more aggressive. He’s averaged 11 FGA for his career and more the past two years.
Again that’s with PJ on a bad team. It is easy to take more shots or be “more aggressive” in that kind of atmosphere when you’re down by 20 lol. Grant has been on top tier playoff type teams, playing next to superstars like Brown & Tatum with others on the roster that were extremely capable. This year he has played with Luka & Kyrie who take like 45 shots a night combined, along with THJ and some other decent options.
I mean time will tell, but to me it seems like a bit much from DAL for a slight bump,
You definitely are overvaluing Charlotte being a “bad team” into your mental calculations. How so? Being a bad team has little to do with PJ taking 11.6 shots per game. How do we know this? Because LeMelo took 19.2, Rozier took 18.3, Bridges takes 17.9, Miller takes 14, and Hayward took 11.9. I don’t care that LeMelo and Hayward haven’t been playing, or that Rozier has been on another team for 2 weeks. There hasn’t been any related uptick in PJ’s shot attempts over the course of the season. Pick ANY 3 of the guys who have taken more shots than PJ on his team and their total attempts per game are more than Luka and Kyrie.
The point is that PJ isn’t taking shot attempts away from anyone. This isn’t at all like Westbrook’s triple double stat collection on a post-Durant OKC team.
Williams is one of the worst rebounding “bigs” in the NBA.
Great trade for the Mavs… they got what they needed. Everyone doesn’t have to Succeed shooting 3’s to be a productive part of the lineup. He’s got a better all-around game than Grant. I dont think Luka will go anywhere when his player option comes up if Mark is still involved with the Mavs
Here are two reasons why this was an excellent trade:
1) Hr is a major upgrade on Grant. Grant is too short to guard power forwards well and too heavy to guard wings well. PJ is an upgrade defensively.
2) The Mavs got two second round picks back from Charlotte. If not they would have had to use their first round to get Gafford only. So they maximized that first round to get 2 players instead of one. Either way they were losing that first if they were going to get Gafford.
As a Hornets fan, PJ is an excellent player. He’s not a star but he is a very good role player. Very athletic and a solid shooter. I wouldn’t sweat the “top two protected” portion of that pick for the simple fact that it will probably end up being a late round pick anyway with how good the Mavs will remain
Hornets fan here, too, and I feel like Charlotte is getting the short end of the stick in this deal. I agree, that Mavs pick is most likely going to be a late round selection, which makes me scratch my head as to what Mitch is thinking. The plan constantly feels as if it’s to have no plan.
Boring so far
Whoa.. Mavs coming alive in the late hour. Pj and gafford.. Suddenly the toughness is not an issue anymore with the mavs
Might even get them out of the play in.
Gafford value is two 2nd picks?
Mavs had two 2nds already, but should be keeping their 2025 as that would convey if they fall in the lottery in the next two years.
So, they are likely giving at least three seconds for Gifford, and possibly 4.
I like it for Dallas. Dallas with Washington and Gafford is really good. They have young pieces at every position almost too. Should promote Lawson and Brandon Williams and then sign Jazian Gortmen and Jaylen Martin on two ways. Mavs get a A
Upgrade at PF, for sure, but at a heavy cost. Salary dumps of 4 year deals after a few months are going to be costly, I guess. Don’t see many.
If they didn’t do this trade and get the two seconds from charlotte they would’ve had to use their first to get Gafford. They got an upgrade at PF AND a great back up center for that first.
I believe Gafford cost them just the 2028 FRP swap they sent to OKC, for OKC to send a low 2024 FRP pick to WSH.
Not bad.
Not bad. Sucks for Seth Curry.
No, not bad.
No, not bad., Yes it does
I don’t understand why the Mavs are so high on Green. I watch the games every night they play and he’s a decent player but I don’t hold him in the same high regard as the Mavs seem to. The NBA should let teams trade all their picks whenever they want to. The draft is a farce.
Weren’t PJ and Grant the last 2 “Names” to sign in FA or last RFAs. They are similar though Grant is suppose to be defensive. Both are average at best role guys.
Turned down extension with Boston and is now a Charlotte Hornet. If money was the objective for G-will, he won. Basketball wise took a big loss. The weather in Charlotte is pretty good, though. Going to be realisation moments of hard truth for guys like Grimes and G.Williams next few days. I’m in detriot playing for the Pistons, though I was in their future and got traded for a 35 year old, Ouch.
PJ is a major upgrade over Williams. Williams is too short to guard power forwards, and too heavy to guard fast wings well.
PJ is an inch talker, but more importantly can move much better than Grant to guard wings.
Definitely going in the right direction. Added to solid players. Mavs are better.
Actually love this deal for Charlotte
Grant is a solid outside shooter which won’t demand the ball and take away touches from your key players. He’s usually a good on ball defender, everyone will say he’s short and fat but it’s just the Mavs suck on defence with Luka Kyrie THJ and a rookie centre. Grant was on those Boston teams which were also first in the league for defence too. PJ demanded more touches, isn’t great on ball defensibility, isn’t as efficient from deep and isn’t actually that much taller.
Think he complements LaMelo Miller and Williams really well and he’s also on a favourable contract. On top of that a first round pick aswell that’s solid.