The Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers have held talks about a potential blockbuster that would ship Kawhi Leonard to Dallas, according to league sources. Early outlines of the framework reportedly center on P.J. Washington, veteran shooter Klay Thompson and multiple draft picks, all as Mavericks president Masai Ujiri starts reshaping a roster built around rookie Cooper Flagg.
As first reported by The New York Times, in reporting that traces back to The Athletic, Ujiri is interested in reuniting with Leonard. Ujiri acquired Leonard in 2018, and that move pushed the Raptors to the 2019 championship. That shared history is the connective tissue that makes Dallas’s interest feel more substantial than a random summer rumor.
What's on the table
League sources described a potential Dallas offer that would include P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson and draft picks, as outlined by Bleacher Report. From the Clippers’ perspective, Thompson and Washington would bring veteran shooting and spacing, along with expiring money, while the incoming draft capital would help restock long-term assets.
The money and the fit
Leonard is owed about $50.3 million next season on an expiring deal, which complicates any trade unless the acquiring team believes he will re-sign, according to Sportsnet. On top of that, he averaged a career-best 27.9 points per game last season, a surge in production that helps keep his market value sky-high, as noted by Yahoo Sports. Klay Thompson’s roughly $17.5 million expiring salary and Washington’s contract status are exactly the sort of movable pieces Dallas can use to line up the money while taking a swing at upgrading its wings.
Why Ujiri might push
Ujiri’s track record is built on big, calculated swings for impact players, a point underscored when he traded for Leonard in 2018 and watched the Raptors turn that gamble into the 2019 title, context highlighted by The New York Times. Bringing in a two-way star with Leonard’s résumé would be a loud win-now move around Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, but it would also accelerate Dallas’s timeline and tighten future flexibility.
What Dallas would give up
The Mavericks finished 26-56 last season while resetting around their young core, a reminder that a Leonard-level blockbuster would mark a sharp shift in strategy, according to Basketball-Reference. Shipping out players under team control plus draft capital for a one-year rental, even one who just put up elite numbers, is a bet that could leave the franchise boxed in if Leonard does not re-sign.
Where this leaves the Clippers
On the other side, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has been described as resistant to moving Leonard, and the calculus is further muddied by the NBA’s probe into the Aspiration sponsorship arrangement, which could impact draft capital or other penalties, according to reporting from CBS Sports. That mix of ownership preference and league uncertainty means any trade would be far from a straightforward player-for-player swap.
For now, the talks are described as exploratory rather than close. Expect more calls, more probing of interest and plenty of cap math this summer as teams gauge whether the risk, the rules and the price can all line up for a deal.
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