The Mavericks and forward P.J. Washington have agreed to a four-year contract extension worth nearly $90MM, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. Washington’s new deal will run through the 2029/30 season.
The first year of the veteran extension will have a starting salary of $19,813,044, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. That is the maximum allowed — a 140% increase of Washington’s $14,152,174 salary for this season. With 8% annual raises, the total value of the deal will be $88,762,437.
Washington will be ineligible to be traded during the upcoming season once he officially signs the contract, since it will exceed the extend-and-trade limitations.
The Mavericks have been locking up veteran contributors throughout the offseason. They also signed Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford to three-year deals — Irving’s begins in 2025/26, while Gafford’s starts in ’26/27.
The Mavericks acquired Washington from Charlotte at the trade deadline in February 2024 and he was a key part of the team’s run to the Finals that season, starting in all 22 games. Last season, the 27-year-old averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals per night with shooting splits of 45.3% from the field and 38.1% on 3-pointers in 57 games.
In 390 career regular season contests, Washington has averaged 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game.
Washington will play a regular role in a loaded Dallas frontcourt that also features Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Gafford, and No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
22.5 per year for a very good player.
Hmmm …
Kuminga would take this deal…..they ain’t offering it though
Absolutely baffling move. Nico Harrison does it again.
No team in the league needs PJ Washington less than Dallas. Start with the obvious fact that Dallas already has Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg to play the only position that PJ plays well, Power Forward. Then, consider Dallas is loaded at C, the only other position that PJ can play, with Lively and Gafford. Barring injuries, it doesn’t make sense for Dallas to play PJ Washington.
Next, consider Dallas desperately needs a PG/ballhandler with Kyrie injured and Luka gone. But, in signing PJ makes, who cannot be traded this season, getting backcourt help just got much harder.
Finally, Dallas overpaid by $4M-$8M. Washington is a borderline starter — a better than average defender and bad offensive player that was acquired (along with Derick JonesJr) to complement the all-offense/no-defense backcourt of Luka and Kyrie. That made a ton of sense. But Luka and Kyrie have been replaced with AD, Flagg, and Lively, which means PJ is dead weight.
Thank God for the rest of the West that Nico Harrison is the Dallas GM.
A lot of money for somebody that isn’t an NBA starter. He’ll be playing behind Cooper Flagg and AD at the PF for
It’s a decent salary for a stud. He’s a very good player.
Strong player, tough defense, etc. He is trade bait now with this nice contract.
I would absolutely take him straight up for Jonathan Kuminga and won’t bat an eyelash.
He’s just 6-7 but can play 3 or 4. I’m a fan obviously. I love tough defense and general overall toughness. PJ is that.
The point of extensions is team control – so these guys can be traded later, instead of lost for nothing in the chaos of free agency.
These dinosaurs just don’t get what’s going on.
Gary, regardless of how much anybody likes him, he can’t be traded this year because of the CBA…and that’s why heads are shaking.
I’m not sure we’re talking about the same PJ Washington :–) He’s never played the 3 in the NBA or college. Main reason is that he can’t handle the ball, nor can he take anybody off the dribble. He’s either a PF or small-ball C. PJ was a bench player in his 5th year in Charlotte when Dallas picked him up.
He could never start for the Warriors. A solid rotation player, though. I’m not alone in saying he’s way overpaid at $22M/yr.
I think the Mavericks would like to lock up a guy like this. I have a different opinion than you in that I think he’s real good. As I said, I’m a fan.
So they can’t trade him this year. So what.
Ok, we agree to disagree on his value as a player.
But, if I’m a team in 2nd apron territory, (Dallas is at $206M, only Cleveland is spending more), I’m trying to win a Chip right now by spending every precious penny on players to help now, and not sign bench players that I’m not allowed to trade on $22M deals.
I think PJ Washington helps now. He plays great defense, he rebounds, he can score, he won’t hurt you out there, he’s just a great player.
Dallas has/had? a lot of scoring options and Ball handling options so maybe you don’t notice him but I sure would love him on the Warriors right now. Dude‘s a low-key stud.
Good stuff ari.
Gary, absolutely, I would love to have PJ on the Dubs for his toughness and interior play. We need that.
A lot is what I think about PJ and Dallas comes from being a subscriber to the Stein Line. It’s supposedly an NBA site, but it’s completely dominated by Mavs fans (more even than HoopsRumors is by Dubs fans). I think there are two Mavs realities: the past Luka-Kyrie era and the present AD-Flagg era. Things that make sense in the past don’t necessarily in the current. And PJ is a case in point.
The Mavs front line is loaded:
5: Lively (emerging star) and Gafford (solid)
4: AD, Flagg, PJ
3: Flagg, Marshall, Klay, Caleb Martin, Klay
But, absent Kyrie, backcourt may be worst in NBA:
2: Klay, Christie, Hardy
1. DLo, Exum
Every Mavs fan knows they are spending like they should win a Chip, but that they desperately need backcourt help… and they’ve been expecting a move for some time…and being at the 2nd apron, it’s hard to make more than 1 big move… and giving PJ Washington $22M was not that.
PJ is respected because of what he did on the Finals team, but I think you’re missing on how offensively limited he is.
Its your typical hate post from aristotle. He does not like the player or contract but once said player gets traded to the Warriors, he sings nothing but praises for the guy. See his posts about Butler before and after the trade. You cant make this up.
The only head that is shaking are yours aristotle since this takes one very capable player off your Warriors to be wishlist.
If you think Washington is overpaid at 22M per year. I wonder how do you think about Butler at his cost? Nuff said.
Washington played the three post-AD trade.
Washington handled the ball a fair amount: 95 PNRs (very high for a PF) and 60 Isolations. About par for the course for a SF.
PJ was Charlotte’s 6th man (playing 29 MPG prior to trade). The Mavs immediately made the NBA Finals upon his acquisition – in large part due to his play.
He also had a career year in 2025. You should be paying more attention to his recent body of work, rather than basing your opinions of him on what he was doing as a 23-year old in a dysfunctional organization.
He’ll make just 12% of next year’s salary cap btw, so no, PJ isn’t overpaid, you just have no concept of what these numbers mean.
PJ will make…
26M less than Lauri Markkanen (230% less)
29M less than Jaren Jackson Jr
34M less than Paul George
37M less than Jaylen Brown
20M less than Michael Porter Jr (100% less)
14M less than Jerami Grant
3M less than Jabari Smith Jr (11% less)
The same money as Jakob Poeltl
The same money as Alex Caruso
The same money as Kyle Kuzma
1M more than Wendell Carter Jr
2M more than Patrick Williams
3M more than Santi Aldama
4M more than Obi Toppin
Somebody doesn’t watch Mavs games. PJ is a 4
Being in a PNR doesn’t make you a ballhandler. Every big in the game does them.
PJ is a natural 4. He also started at the 3 next to AD and Gafford in the first game AD was healthy (before AD went down again).
He did so as well down the stretch of last season, including their Play-In games.
link to basketball-reference.com
link to basketball-reference.com
“Being in a PNR doesn’t make you a ballhandler. Every big in the game does them.”
He was a PNR BALL HANDLER, if that wasn’t clear.
1.9 PBH poss/36 is above average for a 4. It’s in the same range of Tobias Harris, who can play either forward spot.
NBA salaries are ridiculous, even for pro sports
next year they will be way over the cap. You will see them making some trades to get rid of payroll at the end of the season. thompson better do good or he will be gone.
Warrior fan complaining about salaries ….. thats brilliant lols. Warriors are the reason for the new cap rules. Nobody in the history of NBA spend more on their team to win ….
“Warriors paid an NBA-record $170.3 million in luxury tax. This substantial bill was primarily due to keeping their core players like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green together on long-term, high-value contracts.”
“ The Warriors have been a consistent leader in luxury tax payments, a cost associated with keeping their highly paid, championship-caliber roster intact, though this practice has faced increasing penalties under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), notes Golden State Of Mind.”
did you notice how they are no longer going over the tax. That is because with the new rules its impossible to field a good team over the cap. It takes away your ability to have a good bench. Your knicks have the same problem being top heavy and can’t make many moves. So laugh all you want the same thing is going on with your knicks.
Nobody can now arc. But no Warrior fan should complain about money and salaries lol. Its like the Yankee fans complaining about the Dodgers buying players lol.
Where am I complaining? All i am saying is Clippers did not play by the rules. Why do you think people are complaning? There is 1 reason NBA went to that type of a CBA is to make sure there is no dynastys. It was the poor clubs that complained about the warriors and clippers.
Who’s complaining.
Good deal
With all these new streaming services that will have nba games (Amazon peacock) the salary cap should increase
I wonder when the next contract date is? Don’t they usually do about five years at a time? Maybe it’s 10 because the cap really increased in 2017 if I remember correctly?
The NBA did what’s called cap smoothing (small increases over a longer period, rather than a big one in one shot) to prevent what happened that summer.
Where the Warriors went from having no cap space to being able to sign KD. (The league wasn’t happy about this).
Where teams blew all the new money on garbage players like Timofey Mozgov and the players who weren’t FAs that summer were heavily penalized as a result. (The players weren’t happy about this).
The cap is increasing 7-10% every season.
PJ makes sense to have when AD is gone, however, what happened to Nico’s 2-3 year plan of winning championships?
Year one (last year) didn’t even make the playoffs.
Next year Kyrie is not playing all year. The timeline to return from ACL is 8-12 months. KI got his surgery at the very end of March. Older players with leg injury history take the full 12 months typically. Also, after they do come back they need two months to get back to NBA shape.
The Mavs need a guard badly. They could have converted Gafford or PJ into a decent starting guard. Instead they are going to piecemeal with Russell, Exum, Naji and Marshall.
Year two of three year plan out the window. Year 3 will be 35 year old Kyrie (short guards dont do well in their mid 30s, especially ones with extensive injury history), and 34 year old AD who was injury prone when young.
Nico is still the worst GM in NBA history (Luka), AND the luckiest one (Flagg).