Mavericks put their hope in health as the 1-year anniversary of the Luka Doncic trade approaches

DALLAS (AP) — P.J. Washington Jr. sat on the stage in the Dallas Mavericks interview room, fresh off another loss with a decimated lineup for a club facing a second consecutive long summer at home since the stunning trade of Luka Doncic.

Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving didn't play in that 118-105 loss to Minnesota — and might not be in a Mavericks uniform on the same night again — while it was a temporary injury absence for four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson and Cooper Flagg, the rookie No. 1 pick who landed in Dallas by crazy luck and is seen as the next face of the franchise after Doncic.

Days shy of a year since the Mavs shipped their global superstar to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis and rocked the core of a team that was just nine months removed from playing in the NBA Finals, Washington's hope for a return to contention rests with those four teammates being healthy alongside him.

“I don’t think our roster is a bad roster. I just think it’s an injured roster,” Washington said. “Once everybody’s healthy, then there will be a lot more people in here recording us with the media. Once Kai get backs and AD gets back, we’ll be a different team for sure. And Klay also.”

As he sat in front of a modest gathering of reporters covering an also-ran in the Western Conference, Washington must have been thinking back to the throng that grew with each playoff series victory 20 months ago.

No way he could have predicted back then what he has been dealing with since Nico Harrison, the general manager at the time, did what Dallas fans considered unthinkable by trading Doncic right around midnight on Feb. 2 last year.

Davis joined the Mavericks with a long history of injury issues, and aggravated an abdominal strain in his Dallas debut. His six-week absence, during which Irving sustained a season-ending knee injury, fueled the anger toward Harrison. Washington made a futile effort to tell fans to stop chanting “fire Nico” in the waning weeks of last season.

The Mavericks hoped fan discontent would ease after they won the rights to Flagg despite just a 1.8% chance in the draft lottery, but the chants continued this season. Harrison was fired after a 3-8 start, and Dallas currently has interim co-general managers in Michael Finley, a former Mavericks player, and Matt Riccardi.

“I just look at the moment, continue to do my job. I know my teammates feel the same way,” said Naji Marshall, who was signed by Harrison as a free agent the offseason after the five-game loss to Boston in the NBA Finals. “It wasn’t us who got traded or fired, so it’s not really something we should focus on much. I know you build relationships with those people, you wish the best for them. Worrying about that stuff is (like) having somebody else do your job for you.”

Flagg, who has been nursing a sprained left ankle, is living up to the promise after leading Duke to the Final Four as just the fourth freshman to be named the AP men's basketball player of the year. He and former Blue Devils teammate Kon Knueppel are neck-and-neck in the NBA Rookie of the Year race.

Thompson, who sat against the Timberwolves this week with a sore left knee, has soldiered through several rough patches since the trade. He joined the Mavericks in large part because of Doncic after spending his first 13 years with Golden State, where he and Stephen Curry were the “Splash Brothers.”

Davis is out until after the All-Star break with ligament damage in his left hand, and he has missed more games than he has played for Dallas because of various ailments. There is talk of trading the 10-time All-Star, which would be another way to move on from Harrison's ill-fated decision.

At the same time, there's no question the Mavs would love to see an extended stretch with a lineup that includes Davis, one of the best two-way big men in league history, and Irving, a nine-time All-Star as a playmaking guard. The pair had just 2 1/2 quarters together before Davis got hurt against the Houston Rockets last Feb. 8.

Even if Davis stays in Dallas, there's no guarantee they'll play together in 2025-26. With so much ground to make up in the West, Dallas has to decide whether it's worth it for Irving to come back at all this season from the left ACL tear last March.

“At some point, there will be a schedule,” coach Jason Kidd said. “It would probably be after All-Star break, but there’s also other plans that could come into play here. Being able to get on the floor and play an NBA game might be just a little bit different than practice.”

Kidd disputed whether the team's record will play a role in the decision.

“It’s about for him mentally and physically being able to play at the highest level,” Kidd said. “In his mind, no one else’s.”

The Mavs will soon play their 82nd regular-season game since the trade, and the record will be remarkably similar to the 33-49 mark from Doncic's rookie season in 2018-19.

There was plenty of promise then — and plenty of plot twists before two deep playoff runs in a span of three seasons. There's more uncertainty than promise now, and plenty of time for things to change again.

“If you’re relying on hope, then that’s going to be a fail,” Kidd said. “I think it’s just a matter of putting in the work, understanding we have a mixture of vets and young players and just going through the process of learning what it means to be a pro, but what it means to win. You’re never guaranteed. We were there two years ago, and we fell short. And things changed. But you’ve got to continue to put your best foot forward, and that’s what this group is doing.”

P.J. Washington Jr. agrees with his coach.

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic, right, talks to Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson following an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) shoots against Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic reacts on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The shadow of Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic is visible on the court during player introductions prior to an NBA basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and Lakers Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and the White House struck a deal to avert a partial government shutdown and temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security as they consider new restrictions for President Donald Trump’s surge of immigration enforcement. But passage was delayed late Thursday as leaders scrambled to win enough support for the agreement before the midnight Friday deadline.

As the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, the White House agreed to separate homeland security funding from a larger spending bill and fund the department for two weeks while they debate Democratic demands for curbs on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“Republicans and Democrats have come together to get the vast majority of the government funded until September” while extending current funding for Homeland Security, Trump said in a social media post Thursday evening. He encouraged members of both parties to cast a “much needed Bipartisan ‘YES’ vote.”

Still, all senators weren't yet on board. Leaving the Capitol just before midnight Thursday after hours of negotiations, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said there were “snags on both sides” as he and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tried to rally support.

“Hopefully people will be of the spirit to try and get this done tomorrow,” Thune said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said late Thursday that he was one of the senators objecting. He said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were being treated unfairly. He has also opposed House language that would repeal a new law that gives senators the ability to sue the government for millions of dollars if their personal or office data is accessed without their knowledge.

Democrats had requested the two-week extension and say they are prepared to block the wide-ranging spending bill if their demands aren’t met, denying Republicans the votes they need to pass it and potentially triggering a shutdown.

The rare bipartisan talks between Trump and his frequent adversary, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, came after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minnesota over the weekend and calls by senators in both parties for a full investigation. Schumer called it “a moment of truth.”

“The American people support law enforcement. They support border security. They do not support ICE terrorizing our streets and killing American citizens,” Schumer said.

The standoff has threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown, just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies. That dispute closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate.

That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more unified this time after the fatal shootings of Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents.

Democrats have laid out several demands, asking the White House to “end roving patrols” in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants.

They also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have “masks off, body cameras on” and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies.

The Democratic caucus is united in those “common sense reforms,” and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said.

“Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does,” said Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota. “There has to be accountability.”

Earlier on Thursday, Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, stated during a press conference in Minneapolis that federal immigration officials are developing a plan to reduce the number of agents in Minnesota, but this would depend on cooperation from state authorities.

Negotiations down the road on a final agreement on the Homeland Security bill are likely to be difficult.

Democrats want Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown to end. “If the Trump administration resists reforms, we shut down the agency,” said Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

“We need to take a stand,” he said.

But Republicans are unlikely to agree to all of the Democrats' demands.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he is opposed to requiring immigration enforcement officers to show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are “tarnishing” the agency’s reputation.

“You know, there’s a lot of vicious people out there, and they’ll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home,” Tillis said.

South Carolina Sen. Graham said some of the Democratic proposals “make sense,” such as better training and body cameras. Still, he said he was putting his Senate colleagues “on notice” that if Democrats try to make changes to the funding bill, he would insist on new language preventing local governments from resisting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“I think the best legislative solution for our country would be to adopt some of these reforms to ICE and Border Patrol,” Graham posted on X. But he said that the bill should also end so-called “sanctuary city” policies.

Across the Capitol, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told The Associated Press on Thursday that he had been “vehemently opposed” to breaking up the funding package, but “if it is broken up, we will have to move it as quickly as possible. We can’t have the government shut down.”

On Thursday evening, at a premiere of a movie about first lady Melania Trump at the Kennedy Center, Johnson said he might have some “tough decisions” to make about when to bring the House back to Washington to approve the bills separated by the Senate, if they pass.

“We’ll see what they do,” Johnson said.

House Republicans have said they do not want any changes to the bill they passed last week. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the Republican president and ICE.

“The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security,” they wrote.

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves, Joey Cappelletti, Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., speaks with reporters following a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans on spending legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security and a swath of other government agencies, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

With a partial government shutdown looming by week's end, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is surrounded by reporters following a closed-door Republican meeting on spending legislation that funds the Department of Homeland Security and a swath of other government agencies as the country reels from the deaths of two people at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Donald Trump speaks during the launch of a program known as Trump Accounts at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., waits to speak to reporters following a closed-door meeting with fellow Democrats at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)