The Mavericks’ frontcourt picture is still taking shape, and Daniel Gafford keeps landing in the middle of it.
According to Heavy’s Sean Deveney, moving Gafford has been one of Dallas’ goals as the team tries to get younger. Deveney reported that the Mavericks want a first-round pick in return, a stance he also tied to P.J. Washington in the same trade-candidate roundup.
Gafford is attached to a contract that Deveney listed at three years and $54 million. He signed a three-year, $54.38 million extension in the summer of 2025 that starts this season and runs through 2028-29. He is set to make $17.26 million in 2026-27, and the deal includes a 5% trade kicker, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.
The age factor is part of the conversation too. Deveney noted that Gafford will be 28 in October, while Dallas is focused on getting younger.
His name has been circulating in trade talk for months. Marc Stein included Gafford with Washington and Klay Thompson in a June 13 report as the veterans Dallas would be most willing to move, while also saying Kyrie Irving was off the table.
On the floor, Gafford gave Dallas solid production last season. In 57 games in 2024-25, he averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks while shooting 70.2% from the field.
That season was interrupted by an MCL injury in February that cost him 21 games. He also sprained an ankle on the first day of training camp last September in Vancouver.
Last season, Gafford played in 55 games and put up 9.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 65.5% from the field.
Dallas kept both Gafford and Dereck Lively II this summer, while Moussa Cisse remained after the Mavericks matched an offer sheet from the New York Knicks in July. Lively, who appeared in seven games last season and has not played since December, is 22. Dusty May said Thursday on 105.3 The Fan that getting Lively back sooner rather than later would help a young frontcourt group that Dallas is still sorting through, though he did not offer a timeline.
Santi Aldama is the other new face in that mix. Memphis sent him to Dallas on July 8, and he had a right knee procedure in March.
Gafford’s path to Dallas started with the Chicago Bulls, who took him 38th in the 2019 draft. He was traded to the Washington Wizards in his second season and then landed with the Mavericks in February 2024, where he started most of the run to the NBA Finals that spring.
Dallas won 26 games last season. Masai Ujiri, hired May 4, and general manager Mike Schmitz now run the front office, with May arriving in June after 21 years coaching in college.
Deveney’s board also included Jalen Smith, Nikola Jović, Grant Williams, Zeke Nnaji, and Jarred Vanderbilt in the center group, and he wrote that multiple teams are still searching for a backup center.
In Other News...
Mavericks Get An Early Reality Check After Klay Thompson Exit
Klay Thompsons buyout and move to Miami left Dallas with a very different look, but not yet enough of a bump in the eyes of outside observers. Bleacher Report held the Mavericks at 19th in its latest NBA power rankings, a sign that the leagues broader view of the roster still centers more on questions than momentum, even with Kyrie Irving back from injury and a new group of young pieces in the mix.
Dusty May now inherits a team that has added rookies Santi Aldama, Zaccharie Risacher and Tarik Biberovi, but the immediate challenge is less about star power than sorting out a workable path forward. Andy Baileys read was blunt: Dallas could make the play-in conversation interesting, but a full playoff push still looks like a stretch, which leaves the Mavericks facing an early-season reality check before they even get to see what this version can become. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks May Have Found The Perfect Reset For Zaccharie Risacher
Zaccharie Risachers second NBA season did not unfold anything like his first-round billing suggested, but Dallas may have given him the kind of reset that can change the direction of a career. After arriving as the 2024 drafts No. 1 pick, he saw his role and overall impact fade in Atlanta during his sophomore year, and now he lands with a Mavericks team that can afford patience while it tries to build something different.
For Dallas, the appeal is obvious: a low-risk swing on a player whose upside still matches his pedigree, but who needs a cleaner runway to rediscover it. In a rebuilding setting, Risacher has a chance to reset the narrative around his game and, if the fit clicks, put himself in the conversation for a breakout season and even a Most Improved Player push. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Rookie Has One Clear Path Through Dallas' Frontcourt Logjam
Morez Johnson Jr. arrives in Dallas with the kind of skill set that can at least cut through the clutter. The Mavericks 2026 first-round pick steps into a frontcourt that is already crowded, but his defensive versatility gives him a real case for minutes. Head coach Dusty May, who coached Johnson Jr. at Michigan, knows the rookie well and has pointed to the value of a big man who can switch across the floor and handle multiple assignments.
For a young player trying to carve out a role, that sort of trust matters, especially when the path to the rotation is anything but clear. Johnson Jr.s exact place in the lineup still depends on his development and whatever the roster looks like by the time the season settles in, but Dallas does not need him to be a finished product right away. It just needs him to keep giving the staff reasons to believe his defense can translate quickly enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]