Wizards deal Daniel Gafford to Mavericks before NBA trade deadline
When the Washington Wizards transitioned former coach Wes Unseld Jr. to a front-office advisory role late last month, General Manager Will Dawkins nodded to the unusual midseason move by asserting in a news conference, “The plan is still the plan.”
For a new front office executing a rebuild and staring down its first trade deadline in D.C., that blueprint was straightforward: aggressively hunt future draft picks and carve out salary cap space while leaning into the youngest players on the Wizards’ roster.
Washington made just one move Thursday on what turned out to be a slow deadline day void of blockbuster deals around the NBA, but its lone trade followed the plan. The Wizards agreed to send 25-year-old center Daniel Gafford to the Dallas Mavericks for 30-year-old big man Richaun Holmes and a first-round pick in this year’s draft, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.
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The pick Dallas included in the deal is the better of either Oklahoma City’s or the Los Angeles Clippers’ first-rounders. With both of those teams sitting in the top four in the Western Conference, the Wizards could be looking at a pick in the mid-to-late 20s to go with their own lottery pick.
In addition to the draft asset, the deal affords Dawkins and Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger more of the flexibility they crave. Holmes, a nine-year veteran averaging 3.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 10.3 minutes over 23 games, holds a $12.8 million player option for next season. He will join Marvin Bagley III in the center rotation after the Wizards traded for Bagley last month in a deal that sent Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala, a pair of veterans on expiring contracts, to the Detroit Pistons.
Gafford is owed roughly $27.8 million over the next two seasons after signing a three-year extension in 2021 — by no means bank-breaking money but salary the Wizards don’t need to be spending when, at 9-41, they hold the second-worst record in the NBA and are going to be bottom-dwellers by design for multiple seasons.
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Gafford, an Arkansas native whose family often attends his games in Dallas as the most convenient location to visit on the NBA circuit, heads to what looks like an excellent fit on paper. The Mavericks sit in eighth place in the Western Conference despite paying all-stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving a combined $77 million this season and are desperate to add size and defense to shore up their frontcourt behind rookie center Dereck Lively II.
Gafford is 6-foot-10 and solidly built; he is listed at 234 pounds but said this week he has put on nine pounds of muscle since the start of the season.
His work in the weight room shows — Gafford is averaging career highs in points (10.9), rebounds (8.0), blocks (2.2), assists (1.5) and steals (1.0) while maintaining his valuable athleticism and avoiding injury (he has missed just five games this season). Dallas should be salivating over his lob potential when paired with Doncic.
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But with the exception of Gafford, the Wizards will visit the Boston Celtics in their next game Friday night wholly intact — and unexpectedly so. While this year’s deadline was never going to measure up to last year’s messy excitement, the Wizards were one of several teams expected to be more active because of their status as a rebuilding organization interested in shedding veteran players for the right price. There were a few Wizards who were consistently included in trade rumors beginning in early January, forward Kyle Kuzma most prevalent among them.
The 28-year-old drew strong interest from both Dallas and Sacramento, according to multiple people with knowledge of the Wizards’ discussions approaching the deadline. A deal didn’t come together, but the Wizards lose nothing by holding on to him.
Kuzma is an integral part of the locker room and a dependable scorer averaging 21.9 points and 6.4 rebounds. He signed a four-year, $102 million deal in July, meaning there is no risk he will walk away for nothing this summer, and the Wizards still could trade him in the offseason if a stronger market emerges.
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There is considerably more risk with the other player who has cropped up in rumors: point guard Tyus Jones. Minnesota was considered a potential landing spot for the 27-year-old, but the Timberwolves instead traded for Detroit’s Monte Morris, a former Wizards point guard, on Wednesday. Jones is averaging career highs of 12.2 points and 6.4 assists and would have added considerable value to playoff teams looking to fortify their second unit.
Now Jones is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, meaning the Wizards could either be forced to pay big if they want to keep him or let him walk for nothing.
The perceived risk of keeping Jones depends, of course, on what potential trade partners were offering — if the Wizards were only going to get a couple of second-round picks because of a depressed deadline market lean on available first-rounders, the calculus changes. Jones has emerged as a critical leading voice in the Wizards’ locker room, keeps the offense organized and serves as an important extension of interim coach Brian Keefe, elements that are all important to the stability of a rebuild in the early stages.
Plus, if Washington does want to pay to keep Jones this summer and then trade him later on, they aren’t awash in cumbersome salaries. There is risk in keeping Jones, to be sure, but Winger and Dawkins will have options in the future.
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