The Atlanta Hawks Should Strongly Consider One Final Trade This Summer

The Atlanta Hawks's roster seems very set heading into the 2026-27 season. They brought in Lu Dort to upgrade the perimeter defense, took a swing on Aaron Wiggins re-discovering his form and re-signed both CJ McCollum and Jock Landale to significant one-year deals. The combination of those marginal moves and strong performances from the two first-round rookies they selected are the formula that Atlanta's front office is betting on for sustainable success.

Curiously, they haven't done any moves that take out a significant chunk of cap space in future seasons. On paper, this makes sense. They need to plan for an Onyeka Okongwu extension and they also have to keep their cap sheet flexibile in case they need to re-tool the roster around Jalen Johnson. However, there are a few veterans on long-term deals that are probably avaliable in the trade market and could bolster Atlanta's floor without crippling their ceiling.

Among those opportunities, there is one player that stands out. I believe that the Hawks should strongly consider acquiring PJ Washington - for the right price.

A Complementary Contract

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, NB — Mar 10, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In the salary cap and aprons era, it's critical to understand the finances of acquring someone like Washington. Fortunately, he's on a pretty team-friendly contract that should be easy for the Hawks to accomodate.

Washington signed a 4 year, $88,762,439 contract with the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the 2025-26 season. For the life of his deal, his contract never exceeds 13% of the salary cap and he has no options (player or team) in any year. It is a straightforward deal that doesn't have any flexibility to be altered, but it also means that a strong performance from Washington wouldn't merit a new extension any time soon. The deal expires in the 2029-30 season, upon which Washington will enter free agency in his age-31 season.

Of course, Washington would need to be acquired via trade. That's also relatively easy to pull off.

Atlanta Hawks get: PJ Washington, Alex Karaban

Dallas Mavericks get: Buddy Hield, Malik Monk, 2027 first-round pick (via ATL, worst of NOP/MIL, top-four protected)

Sacramento Kings get: Corey Kispert, Asa Newell, Marcus Sasser, 2033 2nd-round pick (via ATL), 2033 2nd-round pick (via ATL)

The Mavericks are getting two solid shooters in Hield and Monk. While Monk's production did decline last season with the Kings, he shot a career-high 39.5% from deep and brings much-needed ball handling to the Mavericks in relief of Kyrie Irving. This move also gives Dallas a high probability of having at least one first in the next few drafts, which opens up the flexibility to trade future picks and build out a better roster around Flagg.

The Kings are getting some seconds and a bad contract in Kispert, but the real prize is the development project of Newell. He'd be a fun lob threat for Darius Acuff to utilize and he fits the younger overall timeline of the team. Swapping him in for Karaban makes much more sense because Karaban is an older rookie whose theoretical prime likely won't be maximized during the rebuilding trajectory the Kings are on. In Atlanta, he can play a much more defined role as an end-of-bench option.

Moving on from Newell just two years into his career seems aggressive, but the Hawks just drafted Zuby Ejiofor and re-signed Jock Landale. Newell's profile as a tweener who doesn't project to have a very diverse scoring skillset in the NBA also doesn't bode well for him carving a role out in the rotation this season. He'll need minutes that the Hawks may not be able to offer - Sacramento can give him that time without the pressure of needing to win games.

Helpful Skillset For The Hawks

Hawks, Atlanta Hawks, Washington, P.J. Washingto — Mar 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) and Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) go for the ball during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Washington's blend of experience, defensive ability and rebounding is an extremely valuable add for a team that is lacking in all three areas.

P.J. was a starter on the 2023-24 Mavericks team that made the NBA Finals and it can be argued he was one of the three most important players on it. He made a massive impact in their second-half turnaround during the 2023-2024 regular season and showed up in several big games in both the OKC Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers series. Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins and CJ McCollum all made the Conference Finals with their former teams. However, it can easily be argued they weren't as impactful as Washington was for Dallas. There is no one on Atlanta's roster who has that experience of playing in big games through a deep playoff run and shouldering a significant burden.

Even in a down season, he still brought plenty of juice on defense as a rim protector and perimeter defender. He saved 1.2 rim points per 100 possessions, which was in the 82nd percentile, averaged 1.1 blocks per game (94th percentile) and averaged a steal per game (85th percentile). Opponents shot 6.9% worse when he was protecting the rim, which is an impressive number for a power forward. He's a great help defender who can rotate over to help Onyeka Okongwu protect the rim. In conjunction with Dort and Dyson Daniels, that gives Atlanta a terrifying trio of defenders to throw at opposing offenses.

Washington's also very versatile in his defensive assignments, guarding centers in the post to PFs to even having some possesions on guards like SGA. He's not an elite defender, but the floor he offers is valuable and he can be trusted to hold his own in almost any frontcourt matchup. That'll be important for the Hawks this season because of their three-guard starting lineup. It leaves them vulnerable to teams with size. Washington fixes that problem - he's 6'7 with a 7'2 wingspan.

His defensive rebounding might be the most important skill that he would bring to the Hawks. Washington posted a respectable 15.5% defensive rebounding percentage last season and grabbed 5.5 defensive rebounds per game (94th percentile) last season. Since the Hawks don't really need him to create anything on offense like the Mavericks asked him to do at times, he can fully buy into the role that made him so valuable in the postseason. Jalen Johnson's expanded playmaking and scoring burden left him unable to exert the same energy on defense and the glass. Washington can fill that gap.

It shouldn't be ignored that Washington only shot 32.5% from deep last season on 4.2 attempts. However, this isn't a player who has shown no signs of being a good floor spacer. He shot 38.1% from deep just the season prior and canned 34.8% of his threes in the postseason on high volume during the 2023-24 playoffs. The shot is inconsistent, but Washington has shown that he can contribute to the offense if he's paired with a great passer who can get him open looks. Both Johnson and Daniels should be very comfortable utilizing him as a catch-and-shoot option.

Currently, Washington is incompatible with the Mavericks' roster. They already have to find minutes for Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson Jr, Santi Aldama and Zaccharie Risacher. Washington doesn't work with Flagg because the two occupy the same role on the floor. When they were on the floor together, the Mavs had a net rating of -8.2 over 931 minutes. They were a -2.3 in the minutes with just Flagg and a -4.1 with just Washington. Removing players who don't fit with Flagg has to be a natural part of the roster build for new president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri. That plays into Atlanta's advantage and they should use this opportunity to add a very helpful player to their roster.

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