The Dallas Mavericks badly need the stability and durability of the big man playing his first full season in Dallas.
Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford is playing the best basketball of his career. Displaying strength and athleticism, adding scoring force and a lockdown of the paint at both ends, Gafford’s play couldn’t be coming at a better time for Dallas. Since Christmas the team has been a bring-your-own roster of uncertainty each game. The injury list is not only long, it’s different nightly. But Gafford’s reliability and growing impact is rising when it matters most.
The big man, who’s spending his first full season in Dallas after joining at the deadline last year, is not unfamiliar with the back and forth of being a starter or reserve throughout a season. At times, he and second-year center Dereck Lively II have been interchangeable in the rotations for the Mavericks. That dynamism was one of the driving forces of their NBA Finals appearance last summer. Gafford may not be possess the versatility of Lively’s young game, but over his six year pro career he has shown one thing: durability. Over his previous three seasons Gafford has appeared in at least 72 games each year. This season he leads the team in appearances, tied with Spencer Dinnwiddie, playing in 45 of the team’s 47 games.
“Gaff is playing at a high level for us, and we need him to continue to do that,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Wednesday’s 137-136 win against the New Orleans Pelicans. A game which Gafford posted 22 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, three assists, while going a perfect 9-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line. “Not just protect the rim and rebound, but offensively, being able to eat the glass or being able to play to him in the post, he’s doing an incredible job for us”.
The bottom fell out of the big man rotation in January. On the 15th against the New Orleans Pelicans Lively suffered what looked to be a sprained ankle and exited the game early. Details later revealed a stress fracture that would sideline him for the foreseeable future — he will be re-evaluated in late February but could reportedly miss at least two to three months. He’d missed eight games this season prior to the injury. Mavericks stalwart Dwight Powell was right behind with a hip injury. While he’s played sparingly this season his absence matters because soon after backup big man Maxi Kleber was next, sustaining a fracture in his foot on January 25 against the Boston Celtics. His timeline for return is unclear, but Kleber has oft been injured (having missed 12 games prior to the injury) in recent seasons and can’t take on heavy workload. Sometimes your best ability is availability, so and so forth.
These sudden departures left Gafford as the lone big man on the roster, so extremely that the Mavericks released two-way contract Jazian Gortman to sign Kylor Kelley to be a stopgap. In the meantime, Gafford has proved a powerful foundation piece. Even as the team struggles to string together wins against good teams his form has been undeniable — in the seven games since Lively’s departure Gafford is averaging 18.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 3.3 blocks per game, while shooting 70-percent from the floor. In the month of January he is second in the league in total blocks.
The Mavericks are doing their best to tread water, waiting for the return of Luka Doncic to inject some energy and stability to a team that has fought hard all season to stay afloat. And unquestionable is the effort and impact Gafford’s play and resilience has been for this team, certainly when all else has fallen away.