Reports: Mavs trade for Wizards big man Daniel Gafford

Daniel Gafford is 1 of the NBA’s top shot blockers this season.

Dallas is strengthening its frontcourt as the season wanes, reportedly agreeing to a trade with Washington for center Daniel Gafford. Per multiple reports, the Mavs will send Richaun Holmes and a 2024 first-round pick (via Oklahoma City) to the Wizards for Gafford.

Mavs get:

Wizards get: 

What trade means for Mavs: Dallas gets what it hopes will be an immediate help to its interior defense. The Mavs allow 53.5 points in the paint, which ranks 22nd in the NBA, and rank 26th in blocked shots per game (4.2).

Gafford should fix those interior defensive issues: he is No. 7 in the league in blocks per game (2.1) and No. 7 among forwards in total contested shots (406). A second-round pick in the 2019 Draft, Gafford has steadily improved with the Wizards after being traded to Washington in his rookie season.

This season, Gafford is averaging 10.9 points, 8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 69% overall. He is also one of six players this season — Jakob Poeltl, Ivica Zubac, Deandre Ayton, Clint Capela and Nick Richards are the others — to play at least 1,000 minutes and not attempt a 3-pointer.

What trade means for Wizards: Holmes was traded to the Mavs in the offseason after falling out of the rotation with the Sacramento Kings in 2022-23. The change of scenery didn’t help Holmes’ game, though, as he is posting similar stats this season (3.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg in 10.3 mpg) as he did last season (3.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg in 8.3 mpg).

Holmes has a player option for next season. As 2023-24 wanes for him in D.C., he will look to find minutes in a frontcourt that includes Kyle Kuzma, Marvin Bagley III and Deni Avdija as the Wizards continue to parse through their roster and gear up for the offseason.