Are the Mavericks shopping Daniel Gafford?

Are the Mavericks shopping Daniel Gafford?

A year after making a pair of consequential acquisitions that helped the franchise advance to the NBA Finals for the first time in over a decade, the Dallas Mavericks could be an active team ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

We are less than three weeks away, and the Mavericks could reportedly be looking to add another perimeter defender, according to Christian Clark of The Athletic. Though one of the players they may be looking to trade is one of their key additions from last year’s deadline: Daniel Gafford.

“The Mavericks, as The Athletic reported earlier this month, have expressed interest in conversations with rival teams about acquiring an impact perimeter defender. Dallas, according to front-office sources with other teams, has dangled Gafford in those discussions,” Clark’s report read.

“The options to acquire a perimeter defender who can be a needle-mover, however, appear to be limited. … If the Mavericks don’t make a move, it will be up to a combination of Washington, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes to guard the opposition’s elite perimeter players in high-stakes games.”

Gafford is on a team-friendly contract, making $13.4 million this season and $14.4 million next season, the last year of his current contract. He’s also in his age-26 season and is a very active rim-runner and shot-blocker at 6-foot-10.

Through 40 games, he’s averaging a career-high 11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He’s currently third in the NBA in effective field goal percentage (.705) after leading the league in that area last year. He’s also on track to post a top-10 clip in block percentage for the third consecutive year.

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He’s been valuable to their big rotation with second-year center Dereck Lively II and veteran P.J. Washington. They don’t have another immediate answer outside of Maxi Kleber, a stretch 5 who’s only made 27.5 percent of his 3-point attempts this season. Depending on the return, I wouldn’t be rushed to move Gafford, though he is one of their most attractive assets outside of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

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