P.J. Washington is looking for a four-year, $80 million contract. Should the Charlotte Hornets meet his price? How does his request stack up to the market and similar players?
The Charlotte Hornets have had a relatively quiet offseason on the free agency front. So far, their notable moves have been selecting Brandon Miller with the No. 2 overall pick and signing Lamelo Ball to a five-year contract extension that could be worth $260 million.
These moves have come alongside a handful of other draft selections — Nick Smith Jr., James Nnaji, and Amari Bailey — and some key decisions on their own restricted free agents Miles Bridges and P.J. Washington.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports dove into these two decisions in Wednesday's free agency round-up. Bridges and the Hornets were far a part in negotiations on an extension, which led to him accepting a qualifying offer worth just under $8 million for the upcoming season.
Washington's future is much less clear. Fischer notes he wants something in the range of four years, $80 million, akin to the extension Keldon Johnson signed with the Spurs and the deal Dillon Brooks just signed with the Houston Rockets.
NBA Rumors: Is P.J. Washington worth four-year, $80 million contract he's seeking?
Simply, there is not a clear yes or no answer to that question.
Washington is coming off his fourth year in the league, which was the best of his career in terms of games played and started (73), minutes per game (32.6) and points per game (15.7).
Washington's archetype is desirable in the modern NBA as well. Standing at only 6-foot-7, he's got solid lateral quickness that allows him to guard a bevy of perimeter players, and he's also a solid vertical leaper with decent instincts which led to him averaging 1.1 blocks per game last season.
That defensive versatility is something plenty of NBA teams desire from players who are taking minutes at the four and the five, and Washington offers versatility on offense too.
He shot a career-low 35 percent from 3-point range last season but on a career-high volume of 428 — his previous season high was 301!
He can also finish at the rim, assertively.
Washington is a good player, he brings good versatility on both sides of the ball but that doesn't mean he's worth $20 million annually.
For example, fellow 2019 NBA draft alum Grant Williams just secured his next contract at four years, $53 million via sign-and-trade to the Dallas Mavericks. Washington has put up better numbers over four seasons, but only for a fledgling Hornets team who truly has not accomplished anything one would qualify as successful over four seasons.
Williams, on the other hand, proved to be a reliable rotation player on deep playoff runs for the Celtics. There was a fair dose of good — Game 7 against the Bucks in 2022 where he dropped 28 points and drained seven 3's — and bad — he shot 30 percent from 3 against the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals and was one of many Celtics rotations players whose output declined as they went deeper in the postseason.
No two players are the same, but if Washington wants to find the payday he desires he likely has to seek a sign-and-trade opportunity similar to Williams and Lauri Markkanen last summer in his move to the Utah Jazz.
Without that, the likely outcome is an extension with the Hornets, which they should pursue given that Washington would currently be their starting center.
A number higher than the MLE of $12 million per year and lower than Washington's requested $20 million likely makes sense for both sides and should provide good value for Charlotte as the cap continues to rise annually.