PJ Washington just inked a new contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks, and it could partially set the market for what the LA Clippers have to pay John Collins if they want to keep him around. Washington’s new contract with the Mavs is a four-year, $90 million deal, and Collins (and the Clippers) could view it as a benchmark.
Collins and Washington aren’t the exact same type of player. But the fact that they play the same position could be enough for Collins’ camp to point toward Washington’s deal as one for the Clippers to match (or at least get close to), which could work out pretty well for LA.
With the current state of the rest of their roster, they could actually get a pretty decent price for Collins. Unknowingly, the Mavs' Washington extension may have just set the perfect bar for the future of Collins in LA.
How much should the Clippers pay John Collins?
Washington’s contract comes out to roughly $22.5 million per season. In a vacuum, that’s not a bad deal at all, and if that were the price to keep Collins around, perhaps the Clippers would gladly pay it.
Ignoring the Kawhi Leonard-, tree-shaped elephant in the room, the Clippers' finances are in a pretty decent spot. They’ll have to worry about extending James Harden shortly, as he has a player option for the 2026-27 season, but outside of that, they have some great contracts on the books.
Ivica Zubac is making roughly $18 million this year, $19.5 million next year, and $21 million the year after that. For a fringe All-NBA guy, that’s incredible value. On top of that, Brook Lopez and Nic Batum both have team options in their deals for the 2026-27 campaign, neither of which exceeds the $10 million mark. Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. are also both on the books for the 2026-27 season already.
At this point in time, Collins makes more than the $22.5 million AAV that Washington just got in his shiny new extension, as he’s slated to earn $26.6 million next season.
If the Clippers managed to re-sign him for less than that and get him on a multi-year contract, it could help set them up to compete for multiple seasons with Harden and (hopefully) Leonard at the helm.
Obviously, they need to see how well Collins fits in with the rest of their roster before they jump to making any big-time decisions, but things are looking solid for LA.
Washington’s contract value could be exactly right for the Collins extension situation the Clippers are destined to run into.