NBA trade proposal sends Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford to Lakers

The Lakers already answered the biggest question facing the franchise when they landed Luka Doncic. They found the next guy.

Now comes the harder part. Building around him.

One proposal floated by James Piercey of Dallas Hoops Journal does exactly that, reuniting Doncic with a center he’s already proven to work with.

Lakers receive

• Daniel Gafford

Mavericks receive

• Jarred Vanderbilt
• Dalton Knecht
• 2031 first-round pick (lottery protected)

Why Mavericks would listen

The Mavericks are no longer pretending they’re on the same timeline as Doncic. That door closed when they won the draft lottery and landed Cooper Flagg.

Flagg looks the part already. The roster around him does not.

Gafford is a useful player on a reasonable contract, but he’s also a veteran center with a history of ankle issues and limited long-term upside for a team pivoting toward youth. Moving him now for a first-round pick and two controllable pieces would be a classic value play for a front office trying to reset around a nineteen-year-old cornerstone.

This isn’t a teardown. It’s a course correction.

Why Lakers would do it

On paper, the Lakers are winning. Dig deeper and the profile is shakier.

They’ve survived close games, leaned heavily on star shot-making, and still don’t have a center rotation that cleanly fits Doncic’s strengths. Deandre Ayton has been fine, but the defensive questions remain.

Gafford solves a different problem.

He runs the floor, sets real screens, protects the rim, and thrives as a lob threat next to a high-usage creator. We’ve already seen what he looks like with Doncic. It worked immediately.

This wouldn’t be about replacing Ayton. It would be about balance. Ayton handles scoring and second-unit offense. Gafford anchors lineups that need defense, vertical spacing, and structure.

As for the cost, it’s tolerable. Vanderbilt’s role has shrunk, Knecht has cooled after a fast start last season, and a protected first seven years out is the type of asset contenders actually move.

Big picture

These teams are heading in opposite directions because of a deal they already made.

The Lakers are all-in on winning now with Doncic. The Mavericks should be all-in on building properly around Flagg.

That’s why Gafford probably makes more sense in Los Angeles than in Dallas.

It’s not splashy. It’s not seismic. But it’s the kind of clean, logical follow-up move that real contenders make once the star is already in place.