{"id":839222,"date":"2026-08-02T05:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839222\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T05:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T05:41:11","slug":"lakers-target-p-j-washington-to-join-luka-doncic-in-proposed-3-team-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/839222\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Target P.J. Washington to Join Luka Doncic in Proposed 3-Team Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Dallas\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 26: P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the NBA game at Footprint Center on October 26, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Mavericks 114-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and\/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

August has arrived, and the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are still searching for a true answer at the power forward position.<\/p>\n

Several names have emerged as a potential Lakers target, with the franchise still in hot pursuit of free agent star Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>, the 23-year-old wingman who split last season with the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> and Golden State Warriors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dallas Mavericks<\/a> star P.J. Washington<\/a> has persisted as a centerpiece name in Lakers trade speculation. There\u2019s no denying the 27-year-old forward, who especially thrived with Luka Doncic<\/a> as his teammate, would be a dream addition for L.A.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Trade Idea to Get P.J. Washington to the Lakers
\n\"Dallas<\/p>\n

GettyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA \u2013 FEBRUARY 25: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers greets P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of a game at Crypto.com Arena on February 25, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In a hypothetical trade scenario, the Lakers call up the Mavs and Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> to execute a deal featuring seven players. Here is a proposed framework:<\/p>\n

Lakers receive: P.J. Washington and Nae\u2019Qwan Tomlin<\/p>\n

Mavs receive: Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a>, Jake LaRavia<\/a>, a 2031 first round pick (via CLE) and three second round picks<\/p>\n

Cavs receive: Adou Theio, Bronny James<\/a> and Dalton Knecht<\/a><\/p>\n

It is important to reiterate that this trade is purely hypothetical and intended for some fun debate, not to stir emotions. Easy now, Mavs fans!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no denying Dallas would be surrendering the best player in this trade, but this framework not only returns four draft picks for a role player in Washington, but also trims nearly $20 million in payroll \u2014 a major plus for a young team building for success in the near future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cavs, who send out a first round pick in the deal, land three players with strong upside potential, especially Thiero, who has star written all over him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just How Realistic is a Washington Trade for L.A.?<\/p>\n

In a recent Lakers mailbag episode, team insider Jovan Buha outlined what it would take to land Washington in L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on how close the Lakers currently are to the first apron, they could not execute a deal like, say, Jaden Hardy<\/a> and Dalton Knecht or Dalton Knecht and Jake LaRavia,\u201d Buha said. \u201c\u2026 They key with trading those contracts for the Lakers would be, those are guys you are already not projecting to be on your books, and that\u2019s appealing for Dallas, but then for L.A. you are now taking back P.J. Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Buha: \u201cIn terms of a legal trade, it would have to be Hardy and LaRavia right now at the minimum in terms of outgoing salary to salary match with P.J.\u2019s contract, plus keep the Lakers under the first apron. You could do Hardy and LaRavia \u2026 plus whatever draft capital is required to make it work. I assume it would be at least three of L.A.\u2019s four draft assets, or you could do Jared Vanderbilt\u00a0 \u2026 that would also be legal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for if the Lakers and Mavs have discussed a trade involving any players this summer, NBA<\/a> insider Jake Fischer noted that the Washington-Lakers link is entirely speculation at this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Lakers fans wanna keep drawing a line to a trade with Dallas for either PJ Washington or (Daniel) Gafford \u2026 I really don\u2019t have any inclination that the Lakers have had trade talks about either those guys of real consequence this offseason,\u201d Fischer reported on the Bleacher Report NBA insider notebook live stream.<\/p>\n

Inserting Washington into a lineup with Doncic, Austin Reaves<\/a> and the freshly-acquired Walker Kessler<\/a> surely sounds promising.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After all, fans were told Kessler was a pipe dream. Could P.J. Washington be next?<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAdel Ahmad<\/a> Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty PHOENIX, ARIZONA – OCTOBER 26: P.J. Washington #25 of the Dallas Mavericks during the NBA game at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-839222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}