Mavs Trade Deadline Update: Interest in Wizards' Daniel Gafford; Could Dallas Get Kyle Kuzma Too?

When it comes to backup centers, the Dallas Mavericks reportedly have their eyes on Washington Wizards' Daniel Gafford ahead of the NBA's Feb. 8 trade deadline. Meanwhile, Tim Hardaway Jr.'s trade value apparently isn't great.

For the Dallas Mavericks, recent trade rumors have revolved around potential starting power-forward upgrades, whether it was Pascal Siakam before he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers' Jerami Grant, or former Mavs fan favorite and current Brooklyn Nets' Dorian Finney-Smith.

However, Dallas could also use a backup center upgrade – preferably one that plays a similar style to 19-year-old rookie sensation Dereck Lively II. According to a report the Action Network's Matt Moore, Washington Wizards' Daniel Gafford is a guy the Mavs have their eyes on ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

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"The Mavs are another team looking for small forwards, with Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reporting they're interested in Grant, Andrew Wiggins, PJ Washington, and Dorian Finney-Smith," Moore writes. "The market for Tim Hardaway Jr., the most appealing asset they're willing to part with, remains minimal. The Mavs are also said to have interest in Daniel Gafford, as they would like one more available big."

Gafford would arguably be the perfect backup center to Lively, as he's averaging 10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 26.1 minutes per game while shooting 68.5 percent overall. Lively averages 8.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 25.4 minutes per game while shooting 73.5 percent overall. Both big men playing 24 minutes a piece would have the Mavs set at the center position for the foreseeable future.

Given that the Mavs also had interest in Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma in free agency, and they've been linked to him again in trade rumors, could Dallas kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, getting their starting power forward and backup center in one deal? Here's what we could see a potential deal looking like.

Mavs receive: Kyle Kuzma, Daniel Gafford. Wizards receive: Tim Hardaway Jr., Richaun Holmes, Josh Green, Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma Says Mavs ‘One Player Away’; Trade Match?

According to The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, the Wizards are looking for "two first-round picks or equivalent value" for Kuzma in any potential trade, but he's "skeptical" that another team will meet that price point.

“League sources peg Kuzma’s current price tag to be something in the vein of two first-round picks or equivalent value," Vecenie I’m skeptical another team will meet that price, so we’ll see if the Wizards have any wiggle room or if the marketplace substantially changes before February.”

While doing a Q&A on X, formerly known as Twitter on Dec. 5, Kuzma was asked for his thoughts on this year's version of the Mavs, to which he replied: "[One] player away. Lively will be good too."

One has to wonder if Kuzma could envision himself as being the Mavs' missing piece to the puzzle. The versatile forward, who won a championship in 2020 with Mavs head coach Jason Kidd when he was an assistant coach on the Los Angeles Lakers, is averaging 22.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists while shooting 45.6 percent from the field, including 34.6 percent from deep.

In theory, trading Josh Green and O-Max Prosper would be the equivalent of trading two first-round picks from the Mavs' perspective, given that Green was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 draft and Prosper was the the No. 24 pick in the 2023 draft. 

Whether that, plus Hardaway, who is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, would be enough for the Wizards to surrender both Kuzma and Gafford has yet to be seen. But at the very least, it's an interesting scenario for the Mavs to sniff around in the next few weeks.