Mavericks just gifted Spurs the perfect trade target to become a playoff lock

The San Antonio Spurs need a forward with size to pair with Victor Wembanyama. With the Dallas Mavericks drafting Cooper Flagg, the perfect trade target is now available for the Spurs to go after.

The San Antonio Spurs can talk all they like about being patient, but they have a Top 5 player in the NBA on their roster for next season. Victor Wembanyama is too good for the Spurs to remain at the bottom of the standings, and having added De'Aaron Fox it's time to look to the playoffs.

Make the playoffs, and anything can happen. The Indiana Pacers nearly won the title coming in as a No. 5 seed. The Spurs have their goal in front of them: to start making the playoffs and gaining valuable postseason experience for their young roster.

To do that, this roster needs some work to address its key weaknesses. One of them is a lack of heft in the frontcourt. Wembanyama is obviously a special defensive player but he is not particularly solid. Harrison Barnes will battle inside at this stage of his career but he is not a stone pillar inside.

Enter Dallas Mavericks forward P.J Washington.

The Spurs should trade for P.J. Washington

Washington is used to joining a mid-level team and elevating them into the playoffs. He was a Dallas Mavericks target at the 2024 Trade Deadline and helped propel the Mavericks into the playoffs - and from there all the way to the NBA Finals.

The Spurs hope that Washington can do the same for them. He fits with Wembanyama like a glove, from his strength and low center of gravity being the ideal complement defensively to his confident 3-point shot and perimeter ability

What's more, he truly doesn't have a role on this Dallas Mavericks team. His ability to play minutes as a smallball 5 is pointless when there are Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and Anthony Davis already jammed into the big positions, plus Cooper Flagg is the No. 1 pick and a power forward naturally. That is tough to fit three adults into, let alone three star-level players to turn him off.

The Mavericks will likely put Washington on the trade block, and if he is available the Spurs will make a run. He would be a perfect fit next to Wembanyama, taking on the larger matchups and spacing the court around whatever action he is taking. It's a match made in heaven.

Wembanyama. De'Aaron Fox. P.J. Washington. The team will have the context to evaluate how everyone fits together and they will be a legitimate threat to make the playoff field. Once you are there, anything can happen - and the Spurs now have the ammo to go out and get what they want.