The Dallas Mavericks have a lot of roster decisions to make this summer, and one of the biggest involves Daniel Gafford. The 27-year-old center doesn’t exactly fit the timeline of a team that’s now rebuilding around Cooper Flagg, the rookie who’s supposed to be the franchise’s future. The Mavs just hired Dusty May as head coach after letting Jason Kidd go, and they picked up forward Morez Johnson Jr. in the draft. But the Gafford situation has been this lingering subplot that refuses to go away.
Before the draft, the buzz around the league was that Dallas wanted to move Gafford to get another pick inside the top 20. That didn’t happen. No deal materialized. According to ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel, the door isn’t closed, but the path forward is murkier now.
“The belief among league sources before the NBA Draft was that the Mavericks were willing to trade Gafford to acquire another high draft pick inside the top 20. Now, it’s unclear whether the Mavs would trade him this summer or wait until the trade deadline,” Siegel reported.
Translation: other teams weren’t sold on Gafford the way Dallas was. Maybe the Mavs overestimated his market value. Or maybe the asking price was too high. Either way, the draft came and went, and Gafford is still a Maverick.
The Hawks kicked the tires, but they didn’t bite
The Atlanta Hawks were sniffing around Gafford before the February trade deadline, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer. But they weren’t willing to offer much more than second-round picks for the big man. That tells you something about how the league views him.
Gafford is a decent offensive rebounder and he’s got a presence in the paint. But he’s not an elite rim protector, and his offensive game has real limitations. Those are the kinds of things that put a hard ceiling on a player’s trade value. Teams aren’t lining up to give up first-rounders for a guy who can’t stretch the floor or guard the rim at a high level.
Luka’s gone. Gafford’s role looks different now.
When the Mavs acquired Gafford two years ago, it was part of a push toward the NBA Finals. That run worked — they made it to the championship round. But Luka Doncic is gone now. The whole identity of the team has shifted. Handing the center minutes to Dereck Lively II, who’s younger and has more upside, just makes more sense at this point.
So where does that leave Gafford? He could be a trade chip at the deadline if the Mavs can find a taker. Or maybe Dallas just waits and sees if his value increases during the season. Either way, the draft was a missed opportunity for the Mavericks to get something done. Now they’ve got to figure out Plan B. And that might not come together until February.
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