Daniel Gafford’s new assignment in Dallas begins well beyond the restricted area. The Mavericks want their center involved in flashes, handoffs and continuous actions, giving the offense another connector instead of asking him to spend every possession screening and diving toward the rim.
That is a sensible idea. It is also a job description, not a completed transformation. In Dallas’ 135-111 preseason loss to Atlanta on Friday at American Airlines Center, Gafford finished with six points, two rebounds, one assist and one turnover in about 17 minutes.
The broader offensive role was visible as a plan. The production was still modest, and the ordinary center work remained unfinished business.
Gafford finished a layup early in the second quarter, when Zaccharie Risacher assisted his layup at the 11:44 mark. Risacher’s delivery gave Gafford a chance to finish. The wider job will also ask him to supply the pass himself; his single assist Friday was only a modest contribution in that direction.
The more important Friday question was whether Gafford could add those touches without losing the duties that make him useful when the ball is elsewhere. Two rebounds in 17 minutes is a thin return for a player Dallas may need to anchor the interior.
He recorded a defensive rebound with 39.2 seconds left in the second quarter, but Atlanta’s centers and forwards kept generating extra work throughout the night. The Hawks finished with 55 rebounds, including 17 offensive boards, to Dallas’ 42 and 12.
That rebounding gap was not quite as damaging as the raw totals suggest. Dallas actually won second-chance points 26-18 and scored 50 points in the paint to Atlanta’s 38. Those figures show that the Mavericks could convert some of their extra opportunities and still lose the possession battle.
They also show why Gafford’s baseline responsibilities cannot be treated as decorative trim on a more ambitious offense. Dallas needs the passing experiments, but it also needs somebody to end defensive possessions.
The game’s decisive stretch made the problem larger than one center’s line. Dallas trailed 49-40 after Kyrie Irving’s 15-foot pull-up at 9:46 of the second quarter. Atlanta then scored 14 of the next 15 points, moving ahead 63-41 when Jalen Johnson dunked with 5:01 remaining in the half.
