MEXICO CITY — After missing the last month of action, Daniel Gafford is ready to make his season debut for the Mavericks. However, it won’t be in Dallas or anywhere else in the United States.
Gafford is primed to return to the lineup on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons, this year’s edition of the annual NBA Mexico City Game.
“Of course. Yeah,” Gafford said at the Mavericks’ shootaround when asked if he’s ready for the game.
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The Mavericks center suffered a sprained right ankle on the first day of training camp and missed the preseason and the team’s first five games of the regular season.
Dallas went 2-3 in its longest homestand of the season without Gafford and lost Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II to injuries during the stretch, depleting their frontcourt depth. Davis will miss two games because of a left calf strain, while Lively has a right knee sprain with no definitive timeline for a return.
Daniel Gafford said he sprained his right ankle when he landed on Anthony Davis’ foot in one of the first drills of training camp.
“It’s been a lot of ups & downs…Couldn’t really control it…It wasn’t something anyone was planning on happening but as they say, ‘stuff happens.’” pic.twitter.com/x5jKVt1Ett
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) November 1, 2025
Gafford said he injured his ankle after landing on Davis’ foot during one of the team’s first drills of their first practice in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“It’s embarrassing to say,“ Gafford said. “Just a bad scenario. Couldn’t really control it…Of course, it wasn’t something anyone was planning on happening, but as they say, ‘stuff happens,’ so you just gotta get through it.”
The Mavericks upgraded Gafford to questionable for Saturday’s game after he was labeled as doubtful for the last two games. Veteran guard D’Angelo Russell, who was present at shootaround, is also listed as questionable because of a left knee contusion, a similar injury Lively had in his right knee before it was determined to be a sprain.
Gafford’s looming return comes at a time when Dallas will face a physical Pistons team with a potent frontcourt of Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart, not to mention Arlington native Cade Cunningham.
Gafford said he was “itching” to return to the court, but his support system kept him level-headed.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs, of course,“ Gafford said. ”There’s times when you want to rush through the process. I just gotta listen to my body when it comes to those situations.”
It appears he won’t have to wait much longer.
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