The Dallas Mavericks had one of the busiest trade deadlines in the entire NBA, as they signed Daniel Gafford and P.J. Washington.
Both deals were made to help Dallas with rebounding, defense and frontcourt depth, and both players have already been great for the Mavs. Gafford is a great fit next to Luka Doncic and has proven he has the ability to anchor the defense when needed.
Washington has a wealth of versatility and appears to be the best perimeter defender in Dallas.
Given all of this, it may have been impossible for the Mavs to acquire either of the aforementioned players in a single trade, and Dallas appears to have been lucky that the trade didn't go through.
The Mavs and Washington Wizards are in trade talks for forward Kyle Kuzma, and a deal is almost complete. Wizards president Michael Winger asked Kuzma if he wanted to go to Dallas, but Kuzma chose to remain in Washington. Kuzma has been given the option, and if Kuzma approves, he will almost certainly be traded to Dallas.
Kuzma has great offensive talent and would have provided solid size in the frontcourt, but Dallas appears to have dodged a bullet by not dealing with Kuzma. From his words, reported by Josh Robbins of The Athletic (subscription required), we speculate that Kuzma is more focused on becoming the man in Washington than being a fill-in for a playoff push in Dallas. can.
Kuzma was Dallas' third choice behind Luka and Kyrie Irving, but chose to remain with Washington, which is 9-44 on the season. An overall confusing series of comments by Kuzma, and if Washington and Gafford trade for Kuzma, there's a good chance Dallas won't be able to deal with them, and it's also hypothetical that Kuzma is here. The Mavs got lucky because they didn't want to be there.
It could have been a disaster if Kuzma went to Dallas and they didn't want him to be here, and the atmosphere is already very high with the addition of new players. They obviously want to go to Dallas and have been key to Dallas' last two wins.
Things could have been very different if the winger had not asked Kuzma if he wanted to be traded and just signed the contract.
Stay tuned for the latest news on PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford, and the Dallas Mavericks.
