![\"Rob](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/GettyImages-2197629317-e1738712855895.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780\")
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To grant Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u2018s wish to play with a lob threat and fix the Los Angeles Lakers\u2018 biggest issue might lead them back to the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Tim MacMahon floated Mavericks center Daniel Gafford as a potential trade target for the Lakers, who are desperately looking for a starting-caliber center.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me throw one at you. This is pure hypothetical, me trying to be GM, figure out things that might make sense,\u201d MacMahon said on the \u201cHoop Collective\u201d podcast last week.\u00a0\u201cThe Mavericks quietly sniffed around the value of Daniel Gafford before this deadline. It certainly would make sense for them to do that this summer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Mavericks will be in a tough spot financially to be able to keep all their centers (Anthony Davis, Gafford and\u00a0Dereck Lively II), according to MacMahon.<\/p>\n \u201cDereck Lively is a year away from getting an extension, Daniel Gafford is entering the final year of his contract, Gafford reasonably and rightly wants to get starting center money,\u201d MacMahon said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have AD (Anthony Davis) on a max, Lively on a big contract and pay Gafford starting center money.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Gafford is due for $14.3 million next season, the final year of his three-year, $40 million contract.<\/p>\n The Lakers, who have surplus of wings and the Mavericks, who have surplus of centers, make perfect sense as trade partners anew.<\/p>\n The Lakers still have the 2031 first-round pick, which the Mavericks left on the table in the Don\u010di\u0107 deal and they offered in the\u00a0rescinded\u00a0Mark Williams\u00a0trade, and five picks swaps to offer the Mavericks.<\/p>\n \u201cI could at least put something together that would at least be intriguing for the Mavericks,\u201d MacMahon continued. \u201cRui [Hachimura], all those picks that they\u2019ve got to give up, a swap or two, I can put something together to make sense to both sides.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n But after the backlash Mavericks general Nico Harrison received following the Don\u010di\u0107 trade, helping the Lakers again would fan the outrage of the still hurting Mavericks fan base.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Getty<\/span>Pundits are pushing foir the Los Angeles Lakers to reunite former Dallas Mavericks teammates Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Daniel Gafford.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n MacMahon isn\u2019t alone in his thoughts of Gafford should be on top the Lakers\u2019 trade target list. Bleacher Report\u2019s salary cap expert Eric Pincus also suggested the same idea in April.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Mavericks have significant size with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II,\u00a0Dwight Powell,\u00a0P.J. Washington\u00a0and Gafford,\u201d\u00a0Pincus wrote. \u201cThey need help at guard since\u00a0Kyrie Irving\u00a0is out with a knee injury until at least December or January (optimistically). While the Lakers may not be able to deliver that directly to Dallas, a multi-team deal could be the answer.<\/p>\n \u201cGafford is in the last year of his contract and is expected to look elsewhere in free agency given the glut of bigs ahead of him in the Mavericks\u2019 rotation. His relationship with Don\u010di\u0107 is strong, and the Lakers would probably insert Gafford into their starting lineup next season if given the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Gafford averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 48 games with Don\u010di\u0107.<\/p>\n NBA insider Marc Stein reported\u00a0earlier this week that the Lakers and the Mavericks are \u201clining up\u201d to play a preseason game in Las Vegas in October.<\/p>\n It will be just the second meeting between Don\u010di\u0107 and Davis, but the third time the two teams are facing off since the most stunning NBA trade in recent memory. It also shows how strong the relationship is between the two franchises.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not far-fetched to think that the Lakers and the Mavericks go back in the negotiation table as both teams\u2019 top decision-makers have a strong relationship.<\/p>\n Lakers president Rob Pelinka and Harrison forged their strong bond when the former was the agent of the late Kobe Bryant and the latter served as top executive of sneaker giant Nike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To grant Luka Don\u010di\u0107\u2018s wish to play with a lob threat and fix the Los Angeles Lakers\u2018 biggest issue might lead them back to the Dallas Mavericks…. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nRui Hachimura-Daniel Gafford Swap?<\/h2>\n
Salary Cap Expert Pushes Lakers to Trade for Daniel Gafford<\/h2>\n
\n\n![\"Luka](\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2150370534-e1746920437380.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=782\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nLakers, Mavericks \u2018Line Up\u2019 Preseason Game in Las Vegas<\/h2>\n