He wouldn't be the next Bill Russell, or anything, but Daniel Gafford could be a sneaky great pickup for the Boston Celtics. They need a center, and he crosses a lot of thing of their checklist.
In a recent article, I wrote, "Daniel Gafford could be solid, but he doesn't raise Boston's ceiling." This is still mostly true, but I've changed my mind a bit, and I realize that's not necessarily a bad thing. He's not a top-tier center, and the Celtics could do a lot better than him... at least in theory.
But he also may be the best center option out there for a Boston team looking to re-enter the title picture next season, and trading for him might be exactly what they need to do to make that happen.
Daniel Gafford is the best realistic center upgrade for the Celtics
Realistically, if the Celtics are looking for an upgrade at center (which they should be), they aren't going to get a true needle-mover unless they make some big trade (i.e., trading Jaylen Brown for Evan Mobley/Jalen Duren). Not only is that not worth it, but they didn't find their solution in the draft, and they're likely not going to find it in free agency.
Trading for Gafford (who the Dallas Mavericks might move on from anyway after they drafted Morez Johnson Jr., who played under new head coach Dusty May at Michigan, with the No. 9 pick) wouldn't be too costly for the Celtics. He's entering the first season of his three-year, $54.4 million contract, and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg to acquire him.
Plus, what I didn't account for before is that, even though the 27-year-old isn't the perfect center, he provides value in almost every area the Celtics desperately need.
Gafford is a strong paint presence on both sides of the ball. He is a good rim protector (career 1.5 blocks per game), is an incredibly efficient scorer (career 70.2 FG%), and his 6-foot-10, 265-pound frame makes him a legit unit. He is also incredibly athletic, is a solid rebounder, and can give the Celtics the vertical spacing they've been missing as a lob threat.
Plus, Boston already knows firsthand that Gafford is a starting center on a championship-caliber team, as he started for the Mavericks during their 2024 NBA Finals run.
Daniel Gafford does have his flaws the Celtics should be wary of
Again, Gafford might be the best realistic trade candidate for the Celtics, but that doesn't make him a perfect fit.
The most important negative of the Arkansas native's game is that he is not a floor-spacer, which Boston is still lacking (unless it wants to bank that Luka Garza's 43.3 3FG% from last season wasn't a fluke). Throughout his seven-year NBA career, Gafford is 0-for-1 from deep... and even that one shot was an end-of-the-quarter throwaway.
He's also not much of a playmaker, even for a center. Ball movement is crucial in "Mazzulla Ball," and even guys like Neemias Queta (who, to be fair, I have long said is an incredibly underrated passer) have figured out how to make it work in Boston's system.
Gafford is good at a lot of things, but he's not great at most things. Still, the Celtics wouldn't need him to be an MVP candidate. They just need someone who can defend the paint, grab some boards, and be a legitimate threat to score under the basket. And Gafford can absolutely do all of that.
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