{"id":814220,"date":"2026-08-17T17:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/814220\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T17:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T17:24:14","slug":"p-j-washington-dismisses-trade-rumors-confident-hell-be-a-maverick-opening-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/814220\/","title":{"rendered":"P.J. Washington dismisses trade rumors, confident he\u2019ll be a Maverick opening night"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">In an exclusive interview with Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington, Kevin Gray Jr. of DLLS Mavs got the inside scoop on the Dallas native and his thoughts on the upcoming season. Washington has been at the forefront of trade rumors this offseason as the Mavericks look to retool around Cooper Flagg. The quick interview hit on some big offseason topics, including his local training camp, Kyrie Irving\u2019s comeback, and, most importantly, his future in Dallas. Here are the highlights of how Washington is approaching next season. The full interview can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/woaDbOyeuBA?is=MoPtJ_VfAhndu1N-\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">It\u2019s no secret P.J. Washington has been one of the more widely speculated names to be in trade discussions for the Mavs. After all, he played a pivotal role for Dallas in its run to the NBA Finals in 2024 and has proven to be a threat on both sides of the ball. In 56 games last season, the 27-year-old averaged 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2.1 stocks (steals + blocks). His athleticism and versatility make him one of the more sought-after forwards in the league.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">We may not want to admit this, but new team president Masai Ujiri somewhat shares Nico Harrison\u2019s vision of a team built primarily on forwards. After helping the Toronto Raptors win its only championship in 2019, Ujiri was let go by the organization shortly after the 2025 NBA draft. Ultimately, he found a new home in Dallas less than a year later. But there are some unique characteristics about that 2019 Raptors team, a few of which this same Mavericks team has.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Ujiri loves defensive-minded, athletic forwards. His draft history proves it. Some of his most notable picks include Pascal Siakam (27th overall in 2016), O.G. Anunoby (23rd overall in 2017), and Scottie Barnes (4th overall in 2021). His admiration for two-way forwards proved itself in the Mavericks selecting 6\u20199 forward Morez Johnson. Jr. in the 2026 NBA draft. Dallas\u2019s forward depth is about as deep in the NBA as it gets: P.J Washington, Naji Marshall, Zaccharie Risacher, Caleb Martin, Morez Johnson Jr., Tobi Lawal, Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic, Sergio De Larrea, and of course Cooper Flagg.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">With a backlog in forwards, the assumption would be someone has to go, right? Wrong &#8211; at least not with Washington. In the interview, P.J. Washington expresses his excitement for the upcoming season and his notable lengthy conversations with Ujiri.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI spoke to him and my role is just going to be a leader. Going out each and every night and just being myself, being aggressive on both ends of the floor. Trying to lead as much as I can this year using my voice and just be the best vet I can for the young guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Gray then asked the big question about how confident Washington is about being on the roster on opening night. The Mavericks forward didn\u2019t leave any room for doubt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cSuper confident. I\u2019ve had long talks with Masai and the whole team. I\u2019m super confident I\u2019ll be a Maverick. This is where I want to be. I\u2019m super excited to be here and get things going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Washington went on to briefly talk about connecting with new head coach Dusty May. Cooper Flagg and P.J. Washington\u2019s minutes together on the court last season weren\u2019t great. Dallas lacked spacing and shooting. May\u2019s desire to run and gun may play to Washington\u2019s strengths more. And of course, it will be beneficial to have Kyrie Irving back. So, there should be some optimism surrounding part two of what Washington and Flagg can look like together. At bare minimum, the Mavericks want to see it in action with Irving\u2019s return and new offensive system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Training camp starts in a little over a month, and this roster seems to be what the Mavericks will go with into the season. Gray\u2019s interview with P.J. Washington silently reaffirmed what we thought Ujiri\u2019s vision was with this team. He wants forwards who can do just about anything. He has them, and Washington is one of the most valuable. Although Dallas comes into next season with a completely clean slate and a plethora of new faces, the big question surrounding this team remains the same. Can a forward-heavy team get the franchise back on the winning track? We\u2019ll find out in two months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an exclusive interview with Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington, Kevin Gray Jr. of DLLS Mavs got the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,686,149,4057,166,12249,6],"class_list":["post-814220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-mavericks","tag-basketball","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallasmavericks","tag-mavericks","tag-mavericks-rumors","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117112016964449164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}