Could Mavs Trade for Wizards' Daniel Gafford as Frontcourt Upgrade?

With Dallas' rebounding and rim protection being among the worst in the league, it may be time for an upgrade before this season's trade deadline.

As the Dallas Mavericks currently sit at 13-11 on the season, they’re slotted as a Play-In team in the Western Conference standings. If Dallas wants to assure itself a higher ceiling for this particular season, a trade to address two of its biggest weaknesses —rebounding and rim protection — might be needed.

The Mavs rank dead last in the league in rebounding at just 38.3 per game while ranking 28th out of 30 teams in blocks per game at just 3.7.  

Dallas has shown some improvement on the glass over its last three games. In a 121-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday, the Mavs grabbed 50 rebounds, surpassing more than 40 rebounds for the first time in eight games. In a 130-111 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday, the Mavs tied the rebounding battle at 41-all, even with Phoenix having a superior big man in DeAndre Ayton. And finally, on Tuesday, Dallas put up a fight on the boards in a 116-115 win over the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets had a 36-35 rebounding advantage in that one, but anything close to even should he considered a win for the Mavs in that department.

Despite the recent uptick on the boards, it's hard to be confident that it can be sustained with the current roster makeup, which could call for a potential trade for the Mavericks. 

In comes Washington Wizards center Daniel Gafford.

In 24 games this season, Gafford is averaging 5.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game in only 13.3 minutes per game. Over the last two games, he’s averaging 14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks in 22.1 minutes per contest.

It feels like Gafford has been a player who Mavs fans salivate over in recent matchups, as he always seems to play well against Dallas. In Washington's 113-105 victory against Dallas on Nov. 10, Gafford finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks in 24 minutes off the bench.

Gafford would immediately step in and play considerable minutes for the Mavs at the center position and would also become their best rebounder and rim protector as soon as he steps in the building. Offensively, his high-flying ability would open up numerous pick-and-roll alley oops coming from Luka Doncic. 

Now, what would a potential trade for Gafford look like for the Mavericks? 

Could sending Frank Ntilikina and two future second-round picks do the trick for a player that has essentially fallen out of the Wizards’ rotation?

Along with the two future seond-round picks, Ntilikina could add some much-needed guard depth for Washington, as former Maverick Delon Wright is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury, and 2022 first-round pick Johnny Davis has spent much of the season in the G League.

The Wizards have a bit of a logjam in the frontcourt with Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura, and Deni Avdija alongside Gafford. Porzingis and Kuzma, who is having a career-year, both have a player options in 2024, Hachimura hits restricted free agency this coming summer, and Avdija will be doing the same the following offseason.

For Dallas, acquiring Gafford gives them a 24-year old big who is under contract for the next three years at an average yearly salary of $13.3 million.

The Mavericks are no strangers on making deals with the Wizards, as the Porzingis trade happened just under 10 months ago. So the two front offices’ know how to get a deal done with each other. And if Gafford seems to be an attainable target for the Mavericks, they should make that call to the Wizards … yesterday.

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