What PJ Washington's Confidence on Staying With Mavericks Means For Everyone Else

Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington revealed in a one-on-one interview with DLLS Mavs that he is "super confident" he'll be on the team at the start of this season after some long conversations with new team president Masai Ujiri.

There have been a lot of trade rumors surrounding Washington this offseason, as the Mavericks extended Naji Marshall, drafted Morez Johnson Jr. 9th overall, and then traded for Santi Aldama.

The Mavericks' power forward position was already crowded, and it has been packed even further this offseason.

However, the Mavericks have 16 players on standard contracts, so someone has to go by the start of the season. With Washington feeling confident that he'll be on the roster, that means we have to look elsewhere for options.

Here is a quick roster breakdown, categorized from the safest players not to be moved to the ones most likely to be on a team by the start of the new season.

Apr 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) celebrates with Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Safest of Safe

Cooper Flagg is arguably the most valuable player in the NBA right now. He's a borderline All-Star already and is set to enter the second year of his rookie contract. He's not going anywhere.

The same can be said for new first-round rookies Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea. They were just drafted, and rookies can't be traded for 30 days after signing their contracts (we should be at or past those marks), and the Mavs moved up to get De Larrea.

Likely Not Going Anywhere

Kyrie Irving was in trade rumors at the start of the offseason, but any talks have been consistently shut down by the Mavericks.

The same can be said for Naji Marshall, who was just extended on a new contract.

Max Christie is a good shooter on a good contract. He's a rotation-level player.

Marcus Sasser, Tarik Biberovic, Zaccharie Risacher, and Santi Aldama were all just acquired in trades, and Biberovic was given a contract to convince him to come over from Europe. It wouldn't be surprising to see them decline the team option on Risacher's fourth year, but he'll be with them this year.

Dereck Lively II was injured for almost all of last year and is entering the final year of his contract. They'd be better served by trying to get him back to full strength.

Bad Player, Bad Contract

As much as people would like for Caleb Martin to not be a Maverick, he still has two years remaining on his deal, which would be too much to buy out, and they're not going to stretch his contract. He just has no value, and they don't have the assets to salary dump him elsewhere.

Could Be Moved, but Would Be Surprising

With how confident P.J. Washington is that he'll remain with the Mavs, he probably fits into this category.

The same could be said for Moussa Cisse. They matched his offer sheet from the New York Knicks, but it's only partially guaranteed. They could waive him if he struggled in training camp without much future penalty.

Apr 3, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson (31) brings the ball up court during the game between the Mavericks and the Magic at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Trade/Buyout Candidates

That leaves us with just two more players: Daniel Gafford and Klay Thompson.

Gafford has been in trade rumors for over a year, but the Mavericks want a first-round pick for him. That could make him trickier to move.

Thompson has been in rumors all offseason, with teams hoping he'll be bought out, but the Mavericks are hoping to trade him. All signs point to him as the one most likely to be moved.

Add us as a preferred source on Google