Grade the Trade: Mavericks land Hornets' budding forward in blockbuster proposal

Dallas Mavericks land budding young forward and backup big from Charlotte Hornets

In this hectic deadline deal, we have the Mavericks receiving rumored trade target P.J. Washington and Nick Richards from the Hornets in exchange for Richaun Holmes, Grant Williams, and Jaden Hardy, as well as Dallas' only current deployable first-round pick (2027.)

The Mavericks give up some very respected assets in Hardy and the first-round pick, but barring that they wouldn't be giving up too much given what they are getting back in this deal. In a vacuum, Nick Richards could come in and be Dallas' backup center on day one, and P.J. Washington would likely assume the starting four-spot if Dallas were to make this trade.

Patching either of those holes would be a huge win for Dallas, but a trade like this could give them the edge toward getting home-court advantage in the playoffs because of the lack of substantial depth they would be giving up.

From the Hornets' perspective, they get to take back a more inexpensive power forward in Williams compared to Washington. Even though Williams hasn't performed up to expectations thus far for the Mavericks, he is a Charlotte native and would be given a great opportunity to grow as a player off the bench in an environment like Charlotte. Idealistically, Richaun Holmes would be a serviceable backup big man and could provide mentorship to Hornets' young center Mark Williams as well.

Williams and Holmes both haven't fulfilled their expectations in Dallas this season, so they make up more of the salary filler part of this trade for Charlotte. The real reason Charlotte would be doing this trade would be to get 21-year-old guard Jaden Hardy as well as Dallas' first round pick in 2027. The culmination of assets Dallas is giving Charlotte in this trade isn't too shabby, but there still might be better packages on the trade market for the combination of Richards and Washington.