Report: Charlotte Hornets trading PJ Washington to Dallas Mavericks for Grant Williams, Seth Curry, first-round draft pick

Thursday, February 8th, is the NBA trade deadline, and teams are hard at work acquiring pieces for a potential championship run. But no team has been as active early as the Dallas Mavericks. After acquiring Daniel Gafford from the Washington Wizards, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski revealed that the Mavericks are also acquiring forward PJ Washington from the Charlotte Hornets.

“The Charlotte Hornets are finalizing a trade to send F PJ Washington to the Dallas Mavericks for Grant Williams, Seth Curry, and a first-round draft pick, sources tell ESPN,” said Wojnarowski via X.

Washington, a former first-round pick of the Hornets selected in the 2019 NBA Draft, spent his collegiate career under famed college basketball head coach John Calipari at Kentucky. It was there that the former McDonald’s All-American in 2017 was able to hone his skills on the court, becoming much more of a threat on the offensive end. Before leaving Kentucky, Washington was named to the first-team All-SEC team in 2019 and was also a third-team All-American.

Washington is in the first year of his newly signed three-year $48 million contract that he agreed to with Charlotte over the summer. This season was a down year for the franchise as they have struggled to even compete for a play-in spot. Washington was enjoying another solid and consistent season for the Hornets prior to the trade. Still, his efforts could not help the franchise manifest wins on the court. Washington heads to Dallas, averaging 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game on an average of 29.2 minutes of action on a nightly basis.

The Wizards trade Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks

Wizards traded former Arkansas star Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks, according to Wojnarowski. In return, the Mavericks will send Richaun Holmes and draft compensation back to the Wizards, per Woj. Gafford is a former second-round pick of the Chicago Bulls. He is averaging 10.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season.

Gafford was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft out of Arkansas with the No. 38 overall pick. He spent 1.5 seasons in Chicago, before being traded to the Wizards during the 2020-21 season.

Gafford remained in Washington until the trade deadline this season but is now close to going to Dallas.

The 25-year-old has started all 45 games for the Wizards this season and is averaging a career-high in points, rebounds, blocks, assists, and steals.

Landing Daniel Gafford is a solid pickup for a Mavericks franchise in need of frontcourt help. Dallas has one of the best backcourts in the NBA with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but the frontcourt is lacking of playmakers.

Veterans Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell, as well as rookie Dereck Lively, have been getting most of the minutes at the 5 for Dallas this season. Gafford should immediately move into a key role with Dallas.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this article