As soon as the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Draft Lottery and the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes, it became clear that they had a logjam in their frontcourt. With Flagg joining a frontcourt of Anthony Davis, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, fans immediately wondered if they would need to trade one of these players to shore up their backcourt, especially with Kyrie Irving set to miss multiple months after tearing his ACL in March.
The two names that were immediately brought up in trade speculation were Gafford and Washington, as both players will enter next season on expiring contracts, but Dallas may not end up trading either player after all. According to NBA insider Marc Stein of the DLLS Mavs Podcast, the Mavericks would like to keep both players heading into next season.
"I just think their preference is they would love to find a way to not have to surrender either one," Stein said when talking about the possibility of the Mavs trading Gafford or Washington before the next season.
Mavericks want to keep Washington and Gafford despite trade chatter
Stein added that he doesn't know if it is "practical" for the Mavs to keep both players, and he didn't predict that Dallas would keep both players by any means. The Mavs' need for guard depth is undeniable, and they currently have a hole at starting point guard that they must fill by the start of next season.
As things stand now, the Mavericks only have two point guards under contract for next season (Jaden Hardy and Brandon Williams), and neither player is ready for a starting role just yet. While Williams proved that he is capable of having a big role next season, toward the end of last season, Dallas will likely use free agency and the trade market to fill the role left by Irving being out, and moving Gafford or Washington may be key in doing that.
Regardless of what their "preference" is.
Nico Harrison and the Mavericks are going to do whatever they can to build a powerful roster around Flagg, Davis, Irving, Klay Thompson, and Lively II, and even though they want Washington and Gafford to remain a part of that core, that may not end up happening.
There are holes elsewhere on the roster that they can address by reallocating some of their frontcourt assets, and one of Gafford or Washington may be the odd man out, regardless of how much they have meant to the franchise over the last year and a half or so.
Gafford and Washington have always been associated together, as they were traded to the Mavs on the same day in 2024, and both players helped Dallas reach the NBA Finals that season. Their boost on both sides of the ball helped the Mavericks turn into an entirely different squad, and they clearly share a close bond too.
But if the Mavs were able to keep both players while also adding a new point guard through free agency or a different trade, they would have one of the scariest frontcourts in the NBA that would have no holes. Keeping Gafford and Washington would mean that Dallas is doubling down on the double-big format that they used heavily once everyone was healthy last season, and their defense around the rim would be more terrifying than we've ever seen.
