Trade Transition: Mavs’ P.J. Washington Shows Value Despite Shooting Struggles
In two games played for the Dallas Mavericks since the NBA trade deadline, Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington have shown just how valuable they can be to a playoff run down the stretch of this season.
For Gafford, the transition has been seamless, as he’s averaged 17.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks while shooting 58.3 percent from the field in his two games for Dallas. For Washington, it has been more of a mixed bag, as he's averaged 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 47.6 percent overall and just 11.1 percent from deep.
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Despite his 3-point shooting, though, which will surely be much better as he gets more acclimated to his new environment, Washington has still found ways to make positive contributions on both ends of the floor. For example, went 0-5 from deep against the Wizards in Monday night's win, but he still ended up with nine points, five rebounds and three assists while playing solid defense and being a +8 in 32 minutes as a starter.
"I thought for [Daniel] Gafford and P.J. [Washington] to start without a practice, it just shows their versatility," Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said after the win. "They're pros. I thought they both played well. I thought P.J. did a great job of cutting offensively and on the defensive end, I thought he did a great job on the ball."
Once the nerves and the rotations settle, Washington's 3-point shot will start to fall with more regularity, and the Mavs will look like a title contender when that happens. Although the Wizards aren't a good team, the fact that the Mavs came back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit despite shooting 25 percent from deep as a team while also having 16 turnovers is a great sign.
Heading into Monday's game, the Mavs had been 2-5 in games where they committed 16 or more turnovers and 0-4 in games where they shot 25 percent or less from deep. The win over the Wizards might have been ugly, but a win is win, and the Mavs will certainly take it.
"Everybody was telling that I was going to get a lot of open shots, but I didn't realize it until I was out there," Washington said after his Mavs debut on Saturday in a 146-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. "Playing with Luka and Kyrie and all those guys, they made the game a lot easier for me. They did that for [Daniel] Gafford too. Just being out here was great, and I am just glad we got the win."
With Washington's versatility and potential on both ends of the floor, there should be even more wins in his Mavs future. He's already gotten two under his belt while not shooting up to his standard, so the best has yet to come.
