Dallas reportedly wants to move Daniel Gafford and is seeking a first-round pick as the Mavericks reshape their frontcourt around a younger core.
DALLAS - Moving Daniel Gafford has been one of the Dallas Mavericks' goals, Heavy's Sean Deveney wrote in a recent roundup of trade candidates from around the league.
Deveney listed Gafford's remaining contract at three years and $54 million. Gafford signed a three-year, $54.38 million extension in the summer of 2025 that begins this season and runs through 2028-29. He is due $17.26 million in 2026-27. The deal includes a 5% trade kicker, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
Deveney wrote that Gafford will be 28 in October and that Dallas is focused on getting younger.
In the P.J. Washington entry on the same board, Deveney wrote that Dallas is hoping to get a first-round pick for each player.
Gafford Remains in Mavericks Trade Rumors
Gafford's name has been out there since June. Marc Stein listed him with Washington and Klay Thompson on June 13 as the three veterans Dallas would most readily move, in the same report that said Kyrie Irving was off the table.
Gafford averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 57 games in 2024-25 while shooting 70.2% from the field. An MCL injury in February of that season cost him 21 games. He sprained an ankle on the first day of training camp last September in Vancouver.
Last season, Gafford appeared in 55 games and averaged 9.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 65.5% from the field.
Dallas kept Gafford and Dereck Lively II this summer. Moussa Cisse stayed after Dallas matched an offer sheet from the New York Knicks in July. Lively appeared in seven games last season and has not played since December. He is 22.
Dusty May said Thursday on 105.3 The Fan that getting Lively back sooner rather than later would add to a young frontcourt group Dallas is still sorting through. May did not give a timeline.
Santi Aldama is the other new frontcourt piece. Memphis sent him to Dallas on July 8, and he had a right knee procedure in March.
Mavericks Have Younger Options In Frontcourt
Gafford, the 38th pick in the 2019 draft by the Chicago Bulls, was traded to the Washington Wizards during his second season and then to Dallas in February 2024, where he started most of the run to the NBA Finals that spring.
Dallas won 26 games last season. Masai Ujiri, hired May 4, and general manager Mike Schmitz run the front office. May, hired in June, spent 21 years coaching in college.
Gafford is not the only center who could be available around the league.
Jalen Smith, Nikola Jović, Grant Williams, Zeke Nnaji, and Jarred Vanderbilt fill out the center section of Deveney's board. Deveney wrote that multiple teams are still looking for a backup center.
Gafford turns 28 on Oct. 1.
