{"id":156335,"date":"2025-08-25T07:24:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T11:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=156335"},"modified":"2025-08-25T07:24:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T11:24:45","slug":"mavericks-are-set-to-reward-pj-washington-with-huge-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/08\/25\/mavericks-are-set-to-reward-pj-washington-with-huge-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks Are Set To Reward Key Player With Huge Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DALLAS, Tx. \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/category\/mavericks\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a> have entered a rare phase. They hold the No. 1 overall pick in <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/flaggco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cooper Flagg<\/a> and still feature a roster built to win now. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving\u2019s<\/a> torn ACL derailed last season, the death knell for an injury-ravaged campaign. Yet the injury crisis produced a twist. The Mavericks slipped out of the play-in tournament and hit lottery gold with a 1.8% chance. The silver lining was clear. Through the turbulence, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/washipj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">P.J. Washington<\/a> remained as one of the most reliable players on the roster. League sources told Marc Stein that an extension is on the table, with a four-year deal worth close to $90 million likely.<\/p>\n<h2>Mavericks Are Set To Reward P.J. Washington With Huge Extension<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_129045\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-129045\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-129045\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-1024x630.jpg\" alt=\"PJ Washington is set to sign an extension with the Mavericks \" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-300x184.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-768x472.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-1536x945.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25552932_168404824_lowres-2048x1259.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-129045\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) warms up before the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Washington has history in Dallas already. He arrived from Charlotte in February 2024, costing the Mavs <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willigr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grant Williams<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryse01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Seth Curry,<\/a> and a future first-round pick. In that postseason run to the NBA Finals, he became Dallas\u2019 primary perimeter defender. His assignments ranged from wings to scoring guards, and his impact was impossible to ignore. Against Oklahoma City in the second round, he shot nearly 47 percent from deep on heavy volume. He also averaged 13 points per game, balancing his defensive load with scoring bursts.<\/p>\n<h3>Fit Alongside Flagg<\/h3>\n<p>Washington turned 27 last week, an age that positions him perfectly between Dallas\u2019 two timelines. He can help lift Flagg in his rookie years while still playing meaningful basketball at his peak. Washington averaged 14.7 points per game last season and posted a career-best 55.6 true shooting percentage despite the Mavericks\u2019 uneven campaign.<\/p>\n<p>His salary projection keeps him below $25 million annually. That number makes him a bargain compared to wings with similar production. PJ Washington&#8217;s extension would also secure a piece that rival teams covet. League rules prevent him from being dealt for six months after signing a new deal of more than three years or with a Year 1 raise exceeding 20 percent. That all but guarantees Washington spends Flagg\u2019s rookie season in Dallas.<\/p>\n<h3>A Natural Next Step<\/h3>\n<p>The Mavericks view themselves firmly in their championship window. Nico Harrison, the team\u2019s general manager, has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/15\/nico-harrison-press-conference\/#:~:text=Harrison%20Believes%20History%20Is%20On%20His%20Side&amp;text=He%20reminded%20everybody%20of%20the,favorites%20to%20win%20the%20title.\" target=\"_self\">repeated<\/a> that message often. Washington fits that vision. His arrival coincided with Dallas\u2019 Finals appearance, and his impact has only grown since. Extending Washington is not a gamble. It\u2019s recognition. His defense, versatility, and ability to space the floor make him indispensable.<\/p>\n<p><label>Credit:<\/label>\u00a9 Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DALLAS, Tx. \u2014 The Dallas Mavericks have entered a rare phase. They hold the No. 1 overall pick in Cooper Flagg and still feature a roster built to win now. Kyrie Irving\u2019s torn ACL derailed last season, the death knell for an injury-ravaged campaign. Yet the injury crisis produced a twist. The Mavericks slipped out [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":156337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,30,3],"tags":[2113,4557,2111],"class_list":["post-156335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-news","tag-nba-contract-extension","tag-nba-offseason","tag-pj-washington"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156338,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156335\/revisions\/156338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}