Mavericks weigh – The Mavericks and Clippers have discussed a potential trade that could bring Kawhi Leonard back to Dallas. Masai Ujiri has shown interest in reuniting with the seven-time All-Star, with Dallas weighing a package that includes P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, an
The idea sounds familiar in Dallas—too familiar for it to be just idle talk.
When Kawhi Leonard was traded by the San Antonio Spurs in 2018. Masai Ujiri was leading the Toronto Raptors. and Leonard became part of a return-to-form that culminated in the Raptors’ franchise’s first and only championship that same season. Now. with the Mavericks and LA Clippers discussing a deal that would send Leonard to Dallas. multiple league sources with knowledge of Dallas’ thinking say Ujiri has interest in reuniting with the player.
The discussions center on a trade package that would include P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, and draft picks to Dallas, with league sources describing deliberations as still in progress.
Leonard would also bring immediate weight to a Dallas team that has been trying to find the right construction around Luka Dončić. But the stakes here aren’t just basketball. They’re about timing, money, and how much of the future Dallas can actually afford to move.
Leonard has one year remaining on his contract and is owed $50.3 million this upcoming season. His recent production has been strong enough to keep the conversation alive: he averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game last season and averaged 30.5 points per game during the 2019 postseason. He’s also carried the kind of postseason reputation teams chase—named Finals MVP after the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors in six games. and previously named Finals MVP in San Antonio as well.
There’s another thread in the background, one that’s harder to ignore. The law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz investigated allegations that the LA Clippers circumvented the salary cap to pay him extra money, and that investigation ran through the 2023–24 period.
If Dallas is considering Leonard now, it’s also because the roster shape around him could make sense. Leonard would partner with Kyrie Irving. who’s set to return this fall after missing all of last season with a torn ACL. Dallas also has Cooper Flagg. who last season became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in points. rebounds. assists and steals.
Ujiri’s own words from May still hang over how Dallas is trying to think. He said every decision would be “future-based,” pointing to Flagg as a “19-year-old generational player,” adding that the organization “is not going to make decisions based on winning today.”
That promise to look forward clashes with a reality Dallas can’t escape: the Mavericks don’t control much of their draft future.
Dallas owes its 2027 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets unless it falls into the top two. and it has zero control of its 2029 first-round pick. The 2028 and 2030 first-rounders are tied up in pick swaps. In other words. if Dallas wants Leonard. it may have to do it with limited leverage—using assets it can access. not assets it can freely shape.
The path Dallas took to build for Dončić also matters for how this moment feels. Ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, Dallas acquired Washington and center Daniel Gafford in separate transactions. Those frontcourt moves helped the Mavericks “catch fire” to close the regular season. and Dallas made it all the way to the NBA Finals later that year—where it lost to the Boston Celtics in a five-game series.
Then came the choices that followed. Weeks after the Mavericks’ loss in the 2024 finals. former general manager Nico Harrison acquired Thompson from the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade. Harrison said the Mavericks were a “Klay away” from winning the championship. But nine months later. Dallas traded Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers—a move that spoiled any chance Dallas had of competing.
From there, the trade calculus shifted again. Thompson only appeared in 21 games alongside Dončić. and while Dončić was an MVP candidate level for the Lakers last season. the 36-year-old Thompson shifted into a bench role for Dallas. He averaged 11.7 points in 69 games. Thompson is in the final year of his deal, which pays $17.5 million this season.
Washington’s situation is different. He arrived via trade in February 2024 and was a key starter on that finals team, and he’s about to begin a four-year, $88.8 million extension.
And that brings the conversation back to why Leonard is still attractive even with the risk. Last season. the Mavericks went 26-56 and finished 27th in points scored per 100 possessions—one of the NBA’s worst offenses. Leonard, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and seven-time All-NBA member, would be a significant addition to Dallas’ attack. But whether Dallas can pull off a deal with the right kind of return—without sacrificing the future they say they’re protecting—depends on how the trade talks land.
Right now, the discussions are real, the pieces are named, and the numbers are clear. The only uncertainty left is the part that always makes these moments sting: what Dallas is willing to spend, and what it has left when the season starts.
Kawhi Leonard trade Dallas Mavericks LA Clippers Masai Ujiri P.J. Washington Klay Thompson Kyrie Irving Cooper Flagg NBA Finals draft picks