Trade & FA 2024-25:

[mvossman]

The Maxi injury concern is real but the 1-2 punch that no one can match is starting to get exposed this season.  Gafford is fun to watch but is starting to show he's really an average backup center at best and I think there's fair concerns that his next contract won't be worth it.

He has the worst defensive rating in the rotation and his defensive rebounding rate is really rough as well.  He's a -1 in net rating and Hardy is the only other rotation player (if you can call him that) with a negative net rating.  Lively's net rating by comparison is 7.7.  He's a fan favorite for a reason, I get that, but he's become pretty over valued pretty quickly because we're a jaded fanbase when it comes to the center position.

This seems harsh.  Gafford is definitely an above average backup center, its just that most of his value is on the offensive end.  The real issue is that he makes a lot more than most of his competition.  Teams don't spend money on backup centers unless they can also play the 4.  This has been touted as a competitive advantage, but I'm not sure if that's true, especially in the playoffs where the best teams like to play centers off the court.