Daniel Gafford has been the Mavericks’ most persistent trade name for a while now, and this offseason has only kept that conversation alive. His future in Dallas has been discussed since before the 2025 trade deadline, and the chatter has continued with Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz leading the way.
Still, moving on from Gafford is nowhere near as simple as it may look from the outside.
For one thing, he remains one of the Western Conference’s better backup centers, and that kind of stability matters for a Mavericks team trying to rebound after missing the NBA Playoffs in back-to-back seasons. He has also been a steady presence for Dallas since arriving from the Washington Wizards, and his role has mattered even more because of what’s happening behind him.
Dereck Lively II is the obvious long-term center. He’s 22, lines up with Cooper Flagg’s timeline, and has the kind of ceiling that makes him look like a franchise anchor when he’s healthy.
At 7-foot-1, he can protect the rim, finish lobs, switch on the perimeter, and make the right pass out of the short roll. The problem is that Dallas has not been able to rely on him nearly enough.
Through his first three seasons, Lively II has played only 98 games. That reality changes the calculus on Gafford.
If Dallas trades Gafford, it is asking a lot of faith from a player whose availability has already been a major concern. And if that health issue shows up again, the center depth chart gets dicey fast, with Moussa Cisse, Santi Aldama, and Morez Johnson Jr. next in line.
That’s a thin safety net, especially when Johnson Jr. and Aldama are really power forwards. It’s the kind of setup that should make Dallas think twice before rushing into a deal.
There’s also the matter of what Gafford has already meant to the team. He was the starting center during Dallas’ run to the NBA Finals in 2024, not Lively II, and he has been a central part of the Mavericks’ identity since the trade from Washington.
Dallas does have some flexibility here. After buying out Klay Thompson last week, the team is sitting at 15 players on standard contracts, so there’s no urgency to make a move before the regular season.
That keeps Gafford in place for now. But if the Mavericks decide they need more guard help, especially behind Kyrie Irving, he becomes a logical trade chip because the backcourt depth is light.
Even so, this is not a clean decision. A trade could bring back a useful backup guard, but Dallas would be giving up one of its most dependable bigs and weakening a center rotation that has been a major part of the team’s structure since 2024. With Lively II’s injury history still hanging over everything, moving Gafford carries far more risk than reward.
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