Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Jym]

Ah, I see. 

I kind of think that if everyone is healthy (big if), Gafford would be used sparingly in a playoff scenario regardless of what Lively can do as a shooter. I think it has more to do with the current trend of isolating people in bad matchups more than anything. You really can't get away with playing guards who are too small or bigs who aren't quick in the playoffs these days, and it gets riskier to do that the deeper you go. 

While I see the logic behind those who'd opt to trade Davis and maybe even Lively rather than Gafford, pointing to him being the most dependable in terms of health (so far), the above is why I believe that would be foolish. If Lively and Davis are both healthy at season's end, you might be the only team in the league who can play TWO centers who both move their feet well enough to dominate on defense. You'd be the only team who doesn't have to play at least part of a game with a PJ Washington type at the 5 (unless you wanted to). That, to me, is the point. If one or both is hurt then yeah, your chances are worse, but that's not really mitigated much with a Gafford type, imho. Both Lively and Davis bring a considerable amount of ball-handling and versatility to the offensive end, too. 

End of day, I'm ok with holding onto Gafford for now, as I'm sure it will pay off over the course of the season. And, I'm in no rush to trade him just to remove him from the equation. The potential problem I keep coming back to is the idea that the 3rd best center on the team is a better and more expensive player than the third or possibly even the second best guard on the team. That's not a situation I feel very comfortable with, personally. For that reason, I'd jump at the chance to make the RIGHT deal, should such a chance present itself.

Yeah I don't want to dump him just to dump him 
Just feels like a luxury we can't afford looking at the guard rotation 
Maybe Christie steps up and establishes himself as a solid SG and I'd feel better about having a valuable, starting level center wasted on the bench 
Klay being the best SG on the roster doesn't feel ideal