Mavs’ Daniel Gafford Impressed with Dereck Lively II’s Skillset: ‘It’s Like Looking in The Mirror’

Dereck Lively II’s maturity and skillset have impressed Daniel Gafford during his first few weeks with the Dallas Mavericks. Gafford says seeing Lively is like “looking in the mirror” given how the two play the game.

When the Dallas Mavericks acquired Dereck Lively II in last year’s NBA Draft, they knew he was going to be good, but what they probably didn’t know is just how important he was going to be to the team’s success from Day 1.

The rookie big man, who just turned 20 years old, is mature beyond his years, and he’s had one of the more impactful seasons among all rookies, averaging 9.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 73.6 percent in 25.7 minutes per game.

Before the trade deadline, the Mavs struggled when Lively went to the bench or wasn’t able to play due to injury. Now, though, after trading for fifth-year center Daniel Gafford, Dallas has a lethal center rotation that fits in perfectly next to both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

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On Monday, Gafford sat down with our Mavs Step Back Podcast and talked about how competing with Lively in practice is only going to make both of them better going forward.

"It's going to be good, because at the end of the day, practicing against each other is just gonna push us to be better,” Gafford told DallasBasketball.com. “It's gonna help us build our craft, it's gonna help us build our skillset, help us learn from each other too.”

Lively’s maturity level is something that immediately stuck out to Gafford when he arrived in Dallas, as the rookie was giving him useful tips on how to play with Doncic, where he needs to be on the floor, and other things of that nature.

“As young as [Lively] is, when I first came in, he was giving me pointers and tips of just like how to play with Luka, so on and so forth. I was like, man, you know what? From a guy with your age range from mine? That's greatly appreciated, because you don't get that everyday,” Gafford said.

“It's usually vets that come up to you and tell you, 'you need to do this, be aware of this, pay attention to this,' but [Lively] was 19 at the time, now he's 20, and gave me pointers and tips on how to play with Luka.”

Although Gafford hasn’t played with a guy exactly like Doncic before, he has played with a former Washington Wizards star point guard that he believes has helped prepare him for his transition to Dallas.

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“I was like, 'yeah I'm already kinda acclimated to playing with guys like that,' because I did play with Russ [Westbrook] for half a year too. So I was already kinda locked in with just the playmaking side, where I needed to be on the floor,” Gafford said.

“First couple of games it was tough trying to figure it out, but as we were going, we were figuring it out as a team, as a unit. Me and Luka, I was talking to him. Me and Kyrie, I was talking to him. Pretty much whoever I could talk to at the time to really just figure out the offense, figure out the defense, where I needed to be, where I didn't need to be. [Lively’s tips] just helped me in general.”

Given their similar athleticism and style of play, Gafford sees a lot of himself in Lively. With both centers “doing everything a big man should do,” the Mavs are poised to be a dangerous team down the final stretch of this season.

"With big fella, Lively, in all honesty, it's literally just like looking in the mirror. Just running the floor, setting screens, rebounding, blocking shots, dunking the ball, great energy. Pretty much just doing everything a big man should do at the end of the day,” Gafford said. 

“Piggybacking off what I said about going against him in practice, it's gonna help us build our craft, it's gonna help us get better position-wise, and it's gonna get to a point where we learn off of each other. Like I said, he gave me tips and pointers, and sooner or later, I'll be in a position to do the same for him as I continue learning the game myself through my career."

If you want to hear much more from Gafford, you can listen to our entire exclusive interview below. Hit that SUBSCRIBE button on YouTube if you haven’t already, and leave us your takes in the video comment section!