Opening day for the Dallas Mavericks is just four days away. And forward P. J. Washington has already scripted what he wants to happen on Thursday when
the Mavs host the San Antonio Spurs.
“I just can’t wait for Klay (Thompson) to get his first points and for the city to embrace him, and for him to start feeling comfortable here in Dallas,” Washington said. “It’s exciting for us, exciting to be a Mavs fan right now and we’re just trying to get back to where we were last year.”
Where the Mavs were last year was in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011. And two mid-season trades on Feb. 8 – that brought in Daniel Gafford and Washington – were pivotal to the Mavs knocking off the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves in the first three rounds of the playoffs en route to reaching last season’s NBA Finals.
But now that he’s been able to go through a full training camp with the Mavs, Washington believes he can become even better and have an even more meaningful impact on this franchise.
“It’s nice just being able to be more comfortable and learn the guys and learn how they play, and just being able to mesh and fit our playing styles together, and then play the game we want to play every night,” Washington said. “So, it feels good.”
It also feels good to coach Jason Kidd that Washington has used the offseason and training camp to add some other elements to his game. When asked what’s noticeably different about Washington as the season approaches, Kidd said: “I think just his comfort level, his ability to defend, and then also we’ve asked him to rebound and bring the ball up.
“He’s comfortable with being able to start the offense, being able to bring the ball (up the court) off the miss, and being able to play-make. For the short time that he’s been out there, he looks great. Again, we’re going to lean on him to d
o a lot for us.”
On his offseason workout schedule, Washington said it was all about “just being more comfortable with handling the ball and being able to score through the elbow, and being versatile on the defensive end. Just pretty much a little bit of everything.”
Washington also noted that he wants – and expects — the Mavs to be more aggressive on the defensive end of the floor, and bring a pit-bull mentality to every game.
“I’m looking forward to being able to pick up the ball full court, pressure teams and make it uncomfortable for them,” he said. “We have a lot of guys that can do that, and that’s what we’ve been working on a lot in training camp.
“I’m super excited. I think everybody is moving in the right direction getting our conditioning right, getting our principles right, and just trying to work on small things so they don’t show up in the games.”
Washington played high school basketball at Prime Prep in Dallas before transferring to Frisco and playing for Lone Star High School. After that, his dad convinced him to transfer to Henderson, NV, in suburban Las Vegas where he finished his high school career at Findlay Prep.
The move to Findlay Prep, Washington admits in retrospect, was a game-changer for him, and added that his father has had a huge impact on his basketball career.
“He was there with me every step of the way just pushing me to be the man I am today,” Washington said. “Even just doing things I didn’t want
to do at a young age, like going to play for Las Vegas and Findlay Prep.
“Just being there every step of the way and just trying to guide me to help me reach my goals.”
For Washington, being back home and playing for the Mavs has had numerous advantages.
“I get to see a lot of the people I grew up with, and I get to play for the team I grew up dreaming to play for,” he said. “It’s obvious I’m able to be playing with great players, also. It’s a full circle, and it’s all great for me.
“In my opinion there aren’t any (disadvantages). I came from a situation where I felt I had a lot of disadvantages, so for me it’s just a lot of advantages here. Actually, the traffic (is a disadvantage).”
Another advantage Washington has, according to Kidd, is that he has a leg-up on the new players – in terms of learning his system — who the Mavs acquired during the offseason.
Kidd said: “For that, he can help the newcomers understand how to get their feet settled quicker on some of the things that he used to understand the system, and be able to share his experience of what helped him have success coming in the trade.”
X: @DwainPrice
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