{"id":517657,"date":"2026-01-05T07:04:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T07:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/517657\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T07:04:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T07:04:16","slug":"these-3-teams-must-consider-trade-for-dallas-mavericks-daniel-gafford-amid-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/517657\/","title":{"rendered":"These 3 Teams Must Consider Trade For Dallas Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford Amid Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NBA trade deadline approaches, the Dallas Mavericks could be one of the league\u2019s most intriguing sellers. They have every incentive to make moves. The Mavericks are among the worst teams in the NBA. They\u2019ve got a clear franchise player in Cooper Flagg<\/a>. If they started loading up on future-focused assets, they\u2019d put themselves in an optimal position.<\/p>\n

One player who should be easy to move is Daniel Gafford<\/a>. Plenty of teams could use a lob-catching, rim-protecting big man who doesn\u2019t need the ball to impact winning. Gafford has averaged 8.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in just 20.5 minutes per game across 25 appearances, production that underscores how efficiently he contributes in a limited role.<\/p>\n

Here are three teams that ought to make a run at the Mavericks center.<\/p>\n

Boston Celtics<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 season was supposed to be a gap year for the Boston Celtics. With Jayson Tatum<\/a> out, they were supposed to bottom out and maximize the value of their upcoming first-round pick. So much for that.<\/p>\n

The Celtics can\u2019t help winning. There\u2019s still a depth of talent here, even in Tatum\u2019s absence. The squad is 22-12. It\u2019s too late to properly tank, so Boston might as well acquire players who will make them better \u2013 both now and when Tatum returns.<\/p>\n

Gafford fits the bill. The Celtics are light at center. Gafford\u2019s inability to shoot is mitigated by such a strong shooting roster. This feels like a perfect fit, no matter how surprising that would have been at the beginning of the year.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers<\/p>\n

We know Gafford can play with Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>. The two advanced as far as the NBA Finals during Doncic\u2019s tenure with the Mavericks. They\u2019re an ideal pick-and-roll duo.<\/p>\n

So, why not reunite in Los Angeles? At 22-11, the Los Angeles Lakers should be in win-now mode. Yet, even if they\u2019re trying to put the right roster around Doncic for the next half-decade, the 27-year-old Gafford is an ideal acquisition.<\/p>\n

The bar in Los Angeles is relatively low. Gafford only needs to outperform Deandre Ayton<\/a> to justify his place in the Lakers\u2019 rotation. That\u2019s something he should easily do.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s an obstacle here, it\u2019s the Lakers\u2019 ability to match Gafford\u2019s price. They have the assets to cobble a competitive offer together, but if there\u2019s enough interest in Gafford, it may not be a winning bid.<\/p>\n

The next team could have a bit more to offer.<\/p>\n

Golden State Warriors<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s fair to question whether the Golden State Warriors ought to even be interested. At 19-17, they may be more than a Daniel Gafford short of serious contention status.<\/p>\n

That said, the Warriors have been widely linked to Anthony Davis<\/a>. Gafford could be a lower-cost acquisition who\u2019d still improve the team\u2019s light center rotation.<\/p>\n

Moreover, unlike the Lakers, the Warriors can easily offer an unprotected first-round pick without running into the Stepien rule. They mostly control their draft moving forward. Alternatively, they could offer Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>, but they\u2019d likely be holding out for a bigger fish than Gafford if they\u2019re moving the recent lottery pick.<\/p>\n

Still, he\u2019s another name to keep an eye on as the deadline approaches.<\/p>\n

Latest Dallas Mavericks News & NBA Trade Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NBA trade deadline approaches, the Dallas Mavericks could be one of the league\u2019s most intriguing sellers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,75,225,686,149,4057,2619,164,150,166,6,6050,2828,1783],"class_list":{"0":"post-517657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-cooper-flagg","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallasmavericks","14":"tag-daniel-gafford","15":"tag-golden-state-warriors","16":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","17":"tag-mavericks","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-nba-rumors","20":"tag-nba-trade-deadline","21":"tag-nba-trade-rumors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115841221559001604","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}