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The Dallas Mavericks have a pivotal offseason ahead of them, starting with presumably taking Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft and then remaking their roster in the aftermath of the Luka Doncic trade and Kyrie Irving injury.
In February, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison controversially decided to trade Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a first-round draft pick. The following month, Irving, one of the key pieces in the team's run to the 2024 NBA Finals, went down with a season-ending torn ACL injury.
As a result of injuries and potentially the distraction of the Doncic trade after-effects, the Mavericks missed the playoffs, and in a stroke of incredible luck, won the draft lottery despite having just a 1.8% chance to do so.
The luck sets Dallas up to replace a superstar talent in Doncic with a potential superstar in Flagg, who is all but confirmed to be going first overall. But drafting Flagg will be far from the only offseason move the Mavericks make.
Among the biggest moves is the seemingly increasing likelihood that the Mavericks will trade Daniel Gafford, whose rim-running, paint protection, and rebounding could be very attractive to teams willing to pay a price. And popular NBA podcaster Bill Simmons is convinced Dallas will pull the trigger on a Gafford trade this offseason.
“There's a lot of teams that need a center,” Simmons said on the ‘Bill Simmons Podcast'. “I think Gaffford's going to be in demand, too. I think both of those guys, if Dallas tries to trade Gafford, I think he's gonna have real value because we just see it every year — these teams like the Lakers, that killed them, that they couldn't play Jaxson Hayes.
“Going down the line, Milwaukee couldn't find any center to play because Lopez finally got old.”
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If the Mavericks would do business with the Lakers so soon after the Doncic trade, which prompted fans to call for Harrison's job, is unknown. But the Lakers specifically do need a center.
After trading Davis to the Mavericks for Doncic, the Lakers tried to acquire Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets. But shortly after the trade was announced, Williams failed his Lakers physical, and L.A. made the rare move to rescind the trade, keeping rookie shooter Dalton Knecht in the process.
The Bucks could be an interesting landing spot for Gafford as well, but Milwaukee has minimal draft capital to part with, and Gafford does not provide the 3-point-shooting ability that Lopez does, which could turn Milwaukee off from pursuing a trade.
Gafford will make $14,386,320 next season, the final year in his three-year contract. After that, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
