Report: The Hornets Will Trade P.J. Washington To The Mavs

With Miles Bridges off the board entirely, P.J. Washington immediately became the most prominent member of the Charlotte Hornets who could move at the NBA trade deadline. It turns out that Charlotte was, indeed, able to find a suitor for Washington, who will head to the Western Conference for the first time in his career.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Washington will become the Dallas Mavericks’ big trade deadline acquisition, as the team is sending Grant Williams, Seth Curry, and a future first-round NBA Draft pick to Charlotte in exchange for the fifth-year forward.

News of the deal was confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who added that the pick is a “lightly-protected” selection in 2027. Charania brought the specifics on the protection, saying that it’s only protected for one of the top-2 picks.

Dallas will, presumably, hope that Washington can fill the role it acquired Williams to play this past offseason, as the team desperately needs guys who can shoot and play defense around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. As for the Hornets, they were able to get a first, while Williams and Curry are both North Carolina natives and should bring some level of a veteran presence if they stick around long-term.

Washington is averaging 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 45.2/33.1/72.2 shooting splits in Charlotte. He’s currently in the first year of a 3-year, $46.5 million extension he signed in August, and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in 2028.