Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[mvossman]

PJ for Grayson Allen, 27 FRP (worst of CLE, UTA, MIN), & 2 SRP

I've been trying to come up with realistic PJ trades and Phoenix seems like a great landing spot. They don't control their own picks for a while so they have nothing to do but try to win. A big, defensive-minded forward like PJ fills a major hole for them.

The pick Dallas gets isn't great and will probably land in the mid-20's, but it's still better than not having a pick that year. Allen provides some extra shooting off the bench. He's owed $18.1M and then has a player option for $19.4M, which means Dallas gets out of 2 years of PJ's deal. That allows them to clear more cap space in 28 in preparation for guys like Luka, Mitchell, Nembhard, Avdija, Ajay Mitchell, etc.

Based on Masi's comments (free agency is kind of dead), I'm not sure Mavs are going to go down the plan powder route.  I'm also not positive there is a need to trade PJ, especially if they draft a guard at 9.  I have concerns with his fit with Flagg, but I think we need to see that on a functional roster, and I have some interest seeing him at the 5 with Flagg at the 4 for stretches.  It would also hurt to trade PJ for a total douche.