The Dallas Mavericks are weighing a move that would bring Kawhi Leonard to Dallas, a sign of how quickly the team is trying to reshape its future around a new core. The Clippers have discussed a package that would send Leonard to Dallas for P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and draft picks, according to league sources cited by www.nytimes.com.
The idea is striking because Dallas has also been described as future-focused, with Cooper Flagg already at the center of the franchise’s thinking. In May, Dallas president Masai Ujiri said the team has to build around its 19-year-old generational player and should not make decisions based on winning today.
Why Leonard Changes The Equation
Leonard remains one of the league’s most accomplished two-way stars. He is a seven-time All-Star, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and a seven-time All-NBA selection, and he averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game last season.
He also has championship history that few available stars can match. Ujiri previously acquired Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs in 2018 while running the Toronto Raptors, and Leonard helped deliver the franchise’s first title that same season before later winning another championship with San Antonio.
What Dallas Would Be Giving Up
The reported framework would not be a small one for Dallas. Washington and Thompson are both key rotation names, but the Mavericks have also been limited by years of draft maneuvering tied to earlier roster-building moves.
| Asset | Status | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|
| P.J. Washington | Under contract | Starting forward who arrived in February 2024 and later signed a four-year, $88.8 million extension |
| Klay Thompson | Final year of deal | Set to make $17.5 million this season after averaging 11.7 points in 69 games |
| Draft picks | Limited stock | Dallas owes its 2027 first-round pick to Charlotte unless it falls into the top two, has no control of its 2029 first, and has 2028 and 2030 pick swaps tied up |
Those draft restrictions matter because Dallas does not control much of its future first-round capital. That makes any trade for a player like Leonard harder to build and potentially more expensive in the long run.
A High-Stakes Fit With Kyrie Irving And Flagg
If the Mavericks pulled off the deal, Leonard would join Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg in a lineup with serious upside. Irving is expected back this fall after missing all of last season with a torn ACL, while Flagg entered the league after a rare rookie season in which he led his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
Dallas badly needs help after going 26-56 last season and finishing 27th in points scored per 100 possessions. Leonard would give the team a proven scorer and a defensive anchor, but he would also represent a win-now push that sits uneasily beside the organization’s stated long-term timeline.
The Mavericks’ recent path explains the tension. They reached the NBA Finals after adding Washington and Daniel Gafford ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, then added Thompson weeks after that Finals loss before later trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.
That sequence left Dallas with a new reality and a slimmer margin for error. Leonard would be the kind of swing that could lift the roster quickly, but it would also test how committed the Mavericks are to the future-first approach Ujiri described earlier this year.