The Dallas Mavericks plucked Daniel Gafford from the NBA purgatory of Washington at the NBA Trade Deadline to a lukewarm reception amidst the February flood of trade rumors and actual news.
The thought was that Gafford would provide depth at center. Maybe his presence in the lane would improve the team’s interior defense. After all, the Mavs had given up 53.5 points in the paint, 22nd in the league, and averaged just 4.2 blocks per game, 26th in the NBA, through the first 52 games of the season. At the time of the deal, Gafford was seventh in the NBA in blocks per game (2.1).
So how did it go? If you’ve been living under a rock, the short answer is that it all went quite well.
Season in review
Gafford absolutely provided much-needed depth at center in his 29 regular season games in a Mavericks uniform, and his arrival, along with fellow deadline-day acquisition P.J. Washington, heralded a complete 180-degree turn in Dallas’ defensive mojo. That turnaround, more than anything else, propelled the Mavs to an unexpected run to the 2024 NBA Finals, so calling the Gafford acquisition anything less than an unqualified success would be disingenuous. The additions of Gafford and Washington ended up being greater-than-the-sum-of-their-parts-type wins for the Mavs as the season progressed.
Would we have liked to see him rebound the ball a little better? Sure. His rebounding actually dipped after the trade to the Mavericks. Gafford grabbed 8.0 rebounds per game this season as a member of the Wizards, compared to 6.9 in Dallas. And were there teams along the way whose offensive attack rendered Gafford nearly unplayable for stretches? Sure there were, especially during the playoff run. He’s not athletic enough to defend that special set of bigs who live out on the perimeter.
But with the Mavericks, Gafford didn’t have to be a one-stop shop. They needed Gafford to fill a role, and for the most part, he filled it beautifully.
Gafford’s arrival also gave superstar guards Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving another dependable lob threat on offense, turning the Mavs’ pick-and-roll game up another notch to nearly unstoppable at times. Whether it was Gafford or rookie Dereck Lively II rolling to the bucket, the Mavs’ lob game was strong for 48 minutes per night.
The inside game was so strong, in fact, that Gafford nearly broke a 57-year-old NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain for consecutive field goals made (35). Gafford didn’t miss a field goal attempt for a stretch of five games and had made 33 straight entering a March 14 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He missed a put-back attempt in the first quarter to come up two made buckets short of Wilt’s record, and he’s only been in Dallas about a month at that time. The fit seemed to be immaculate. Then he put together another streak of 22 straight made baskets later over more than three games late in the regular season.
The Best Game
Gafford piled up bigger numbers in a couple of blowout wins down the stretch of the regular season when the Mavs were lighting up the league on a 16-2 tear heading into the playoffs. But I want to highlight his first game in a Mavericks jersey here. In just 17 minutes of playing time, Gafford scored 19 points and grabbed nine boards in a 146-111 blowout over the Thunder. It was a game that Maxi Kleber started at the five in Lively’s absence after a January ankle injury. But after Gafford’s line of 19 and nine in his first game with the Mavericks and then 16 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots in his next game, against his former team the Wizards, he was immediately perceived as a godsend.
He and Lively traded off starting center duty once or twice throughout the regular season before Jason Kidd settled on Gafford as the starter and Lively coming off the bench in a 1a-1b tandem where each saw nearly identical minutes when both were healthy.
Gafford’s efficient performance in his first game with the Mavs raised eyebrows everywhere and gave the fanbase hope for the open-ended future, if not as much for the more immediate future … yet. Remember, the Mavs were just 29-23 going into that game, and there were more questions than answers available as to what impact the newly acquired pieces would have. As it turned out, though, hope abounded everywhere, and Gafford became a key cog in an improbable march through the Western Conference and to the NBA Finals.
Contract status
Gafford is under contract for two more seasons and carries a salary cap hit of just over $13 million for the 2024-25 season. His current contract will carry Gafford through his Age 27 season in 2025-26, after which he will be an unrestricted free agent. It’s a similar contractual situation to Washington, though Washington’s contract is descending. Given that Washington showed a little more upside and growth potential than Gafford this season, I hesitate to call Gafford’s contract a comparative “steal,” but it is at least a very respectable number that both sides can be happy with for now.
Looking ahead
It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks’ frontcourt shapes up heading into the 2024-25 season. Most fans expect Lively to take a big step forward in his progression as a young big. Does that mean Gafford takes a backseat? If there is a clear difference between the two in Lively’s second year, that would set Dallas up with one of the best 1-2 punches at the center position in the NBA. Once a weakness, the five will now be a set-it-and-forget-it luxury.
This isn’t to say that Gafford can’t improve offensively along with Lively and Washington, but Gafford just seems like more of a finished product right now than either of those two. One of two post moves wouldn’t hurt, as he was stymied in the NBA Finals when the Celtics refused to double-team Dončić in pick-and-roll scenarios. If he can hit more free throws and be anything more than one dimensional on offense, Gafford can become even more valuable than he already is for Dallas. But even if we’ve already seen the totality of what Gafford is, he’ll be the one of the best backup centers in the game for the next two years, and that’s big for these Dallas Mavericks.
Grade: B+
Gafford is every bit the finisher at the rim the Mavs were promised. And when you pair a really nice finisher with an elite playmaking backcourt like the one in Dallas, the results can be better than the sum of the parts. He needs to rebound slightly better, especially on the defensive end, and anything he can do to develop a more well-rounded offensive game would be welcome. But the Mavs don’t need Gafford to develop into an All-Star. They need him to continue to do dirty work, block shots and bring the all-important juice. Gafford’s season was one developed post move away from being an easy A. We certainly like him around these parts.
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