Dallas has options at center, but Dereck Lively II's uncertain recovery makes Daniel Gafford far more valuable than a simple roster chart suggests.
The Mavericks have been one of the busiest teams in the league this offseason and they might not be finished yet.
After overhauling the front office, hiring Dusty May and reshaping the roster, Dallas still has decisions left to make. Daniel Gafford's name keeps coming up in the conversation.
Speaking on the DLLS podcast Saturday, Marc Stein laid out where things stand.
"Daniel Gafford, they're still fielding offers on him..." Stein said. "...So, will we see some sort of trade that changes the roster, shuffles things further? I just think it'll be a lot easier to answer those questions when we know that the moves for the offseason are really done."
Fielding offers is not the same as shopping a player. ... and Dallas needs to be careful about how far it takes this one - because dumping him seems dumb.
The surface-level case for moving Gafford is easy to make. The Mavericks have an influx of centers after matching Moussa Cisse's offer sheet from New York. With Dereck Lively II and Cisse also on the roster, the frontcourt math gets crowded fast. On paper, Gafford is the veteran piece with the highest trade value and the most contested minutes.
But paper does not account for what happened last season, or what could happen again.
Lively's recovery timeline remains uncertain and his injury history makes that uncertainty matter. He is more than seven months removed from season-ending surgery on his right foot, the third procedure on that foot in about a year and as of late June still could not run or jump. He played seven games last season and has appeared in only 98 of 185 possible games in his career. Asked recently about a return timeline, he did not provide one.
Betting a rotation on Lively's availability has burned Dallas before. If he is not ready for the start of the season, or if he suffers another setback, the Mavericks would be handing significant minutes to Cisse and hoping for the best. That's not a plan. That's a gamble on top of a gamble.
Meanwhile, Gafford's production has ranked among the best in the league at his position since he arrived in Dallas. Since being traded from Washington in February 2024, he has averaged around 11 to 12 points, seven rebounds and roughly two blocks per game while shooting an elite percentage from the field.
Last season, he posted career highs of 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.5 minutes per game while shooting 70.2% from the field. He finished 10th in the NBA in total blocks with 102 and third in offensive rating at 137.4. His 71% career field goal percentage entering last season ranked first in the league among players drafted since 2019 with at least 1,000 attempts.
His numbers as a starter were even better. In the stretch after the trade during the 2023-24 season, Dallas went 18-3 in games Gafford started. He averaged 12.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks while shooting 79.3% from the field.
That's the kind of efficiency that changes what an offense can do.
Put him next to Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving and his value only increases. He does not need touches. He needs a lob and a screen assignment. He handles the rest.
There is also the part that does not show up in a box score. This is a young roster entering the second year of a new era, with a first-time NBA head coach in May and a front office still establishing its culture. Gafford is one of the few veterans who has experienced playoff basketball and understands what a playoff rotation demands. He also sets a standard in practice.
Removing that from a locker room full of young players carries a real cost.
None of this makes Gafford untouchable. If a team offers something that genuinely improves the roster, Masai Ujiri needs to listen. That's exactly what fielding offers means. But there is a difference between listening and forcing a trade to clear a positional logjam.
