TRADE: Daniel Gafford to DAL | Holmes +FRP to WAS | OKC pickswap

[dirkfansince1998]

We are 10 points worse defensively any time Lively and Powell are off the floor.  So, those minutes are now gone.  Relative to the Powell minutes, he rebounds, blocks and defends shots in the paint better than Powell and he’s harder to push around than Powell.  Some of this has to be eye test until we see the actual product, but the eye test infers he’s better at pretty much everything near the basket than Powell.  The harder test to evaluate is the part away from the basket (switching, drop coverage).  Time will tell, but logic says this will be an improvement.

Glass half empty. Last time Gafford wasn't a negative in defensive on/off was his rookie season. I really hope that it's just about him playing next to Kuzma and Poole but I am not as convinced as others on this board that just because he is a shot blocker the defense is going to be better. Have seen too many players that chased blocks/rebounds instead of playing good team defense. I haven't seen enough of Gafford to make the call but the numbers are at least somewhat concerning.
Glass half full. He has all the tools to make an impact and for the first time in his career his on court performance actually matters. He is playing on a winning team. As we saw last season selfish/lazy defenders like McGee will quickly lose their spot in the rotation. So I am going to assume that Gafford will embrace his new role.