The Landlord, Go-Go Gadget Gafford. Official Daniel Gafford Thread

[Halcyon]

Love the deal, dude has been a game changer for us.

[NatP4]

5 years**

I love it. Basically locking up an athletic rim protecting C for his prime years from age 23-27. After that, you never know when the drop off could happen with those guys.

[pcbothwel]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects Bryant's next contract. If Gafford shows that he can play 30 minutes a night, then we might not want to spend much money on a second center. Rather than pay Bryant $10-15M to play 18 minutes a game, I'd rather look for a guy like Dario Saric or Taj Gibson to do it for less. Or maybe just sign a cheap minutes eater like Alex Len for the regular season, and ultimately phase him out in the playoffs in favor of a small ball lineup with Rui at backup center.

But if Gafford can only play 25 minutes a night, then there might be enough money to spend the full MLE plus maybe $1-2M more on Bryant.

I think the aim is to have Todd take over for Bryant as a complimentary small ball 5 that can stretch the floor, weakside shot blocker, and be a mismatch.
I think the 3-headed Center is here it stay.
Starter (Gafford) - Elite Defender and lob threat
Backup (Harrell) - Energy big that rebounds and provides physicality.
Small ball 5 (Todd) - Stretch Big that can a mismatch against slower bigs and play the 4 in a big lineup

Dont be shocked if they give Harrell the full MLE this offseason. Thats a Center rotation that can compete with anyone in the league for less than 15% of the cap. Allows us to focus resources on hall handlers and two way wings.

[nate33]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects Bryant's next contract. If Gafford shows that he can play 30 minutes a night, then we might not want to spend much money on a second center. Rather than pay Bryant $10-15M to play 18 minutes a game, I'd rather look for a guy like Dario Saric or Taj Gibson to do it for less. Or maybe just sign a cheap minutes eater like Alex Len for the regular season, and ultimately phase him out in the playoffs in favor of a small ball lineup with Rui at backup center.

But if Gafford can only play 25 minutes a night, then there might be enough money to spend the full MLE plus maybe $1-2M more on Bryant.

I think the aim is to have Todd take over for Bryant as a complimentary small ball 5 that can stretch the floor, weakside shot blocker, and be a mismatch.
I think the 3-headed Center is here it stay.
Starter (Gafford) - Elite Defender and lob threat
Backup (Harrell) - Energy big that rebounds and provides physicality.
Small ball 5 (Todd) - Stretch Big that can a mismatch against slower bigs and play the 4 in a big lineup

Dont be shocked if they give Harrell the full MLE this offseason. Thats a Center rotation that can compete with anyone in the league for less than 15% of the cap. Allows us to focus resources on hall handlers and two way wings.

I disagree completely. The 3-headed center was an anomaly. We won't be paying 3 centers big money going forward. You may be right that Todd is being groomed to play center, but he will be a third stringer who only plays in garbage time. That's fine since he is only being paid just above vet minimum money. If Todd develops enough to be good enough for the regular rotation by his second contract, we will pay him and trade/cut our 2nd string center.

But the real point is that we won't be keeping both Harrell and Bryant. It'll just be one of them. Which one depends on the price. I'm pretty confident they would much rather retain Bryant. But if Bryant costs $12M while Harrell only costs $6M, maybe they'll keep Harrell.

[pcbothwel]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects Bryant's next contract. If Gafford shows that he can play 30 minutes a night, then we might not want to spend much money on a second center. Rather than pay Bryant $10-15M to play 18 minutes a game, I'd rather look for a guy like Dario Saric or Taj Gibson to do it for less. Or maybe just sign a cheap minutes eater like Alex Len for the regular season, and ultimately phase him out in the playoffs in favor of a small ball lineup with Rui at backup center.

But if Gafford can only play 25 minutes a night, then there might be enough money to spend the full MLE plus maybe $1-2M more on Bryant.

I think the aim is to have Todd take over for Bryant as a complimentary small ball 5 that can stretch the floor, weakside shot blocker, and be a mismatch.
I think the 3-headed Center is here it stay.
Starter (Gafford) - Elite Defender and lob threat
Backup (Harrell) - Energy big that rebounds and provides physicality.
Small ball 5 (Todd) - Stretch Big that can a mismatch against slower bigs and play the 4 in a big lineup

Dont be shocked if they give Harrell the full MLE this offseason. Thats a Center rotation that can compete with anyone in the league for less than 15% of the cap. Allows us to focus resources on hall handlers and two way wings.

I disagree completely. The 3-headed center was an anomaly. We won't be paying 3 centers big money going forward. You may be right that Todd is being groomed to play center, but he will be a third stringer who only plays in garbage time. That's fine since he is only being paid just above vet minimum money. If Todd develops enough to be good enough for the regular rotation by his second contract, we will pay him and trade/cut our 2nd string center.

But the real point is that we won't be keeping both Harrell and Bryant. It'll just be one of them. Which one depends on the price. I'm pretty confident they would much rather retain Bryant. But if Bryant costs $12M while Harrell only costs $6M, maybe they'll keep Harrell.

I think you completely missed my point. The Center position is tough to fill because you have giant humans playing at a fast pace, which makes loggin heavy minutes tough due to fatigue and injury. They are also required to be the defensive backbone which often puts them in foul trouble.
Quite simply, its too hard to build your team around the Center position. Its much more economical and risk averse to have 2, maybe 3 guys that can protect the paint, switch on the perimeter, rebound, and stretch the floor.

You made my point. You need to fill 48 minutes at the 5 and you cant overpay to do so. So you pay 1 guy to be a starter (Gafford), another guy ~MLE to feast on backups (Harrell/Bryant), and a third guy with more positional flexibility to be a mismatch.

Im not sure of your disagreement

[Rafael122]

Yeah when looking at the UFA C class next season, Bryant is probably the 3rd or 4th best center on there. But take into account that you're seeing teams making an effort to keep their core, so as a result that weakens the FA class significantly. I think Lavine is the prize of the 2022 class, but it's a steep drop off after that. Center wise, JV and and Nurk are the top centers available, for now.

But going back to the centers, I mean Deandre Jordan is probably on the min-contract for the rest of his career, there's Whiteside, Cody Zeller, etc. I guess the reasoning applies to Harrell as well, b/c there's going to be a bunch of guys you can get for the vet minimum salary. Bryant may get more just b/c he has a jumper. Harrell is listed as a PF on Spotrac, and there's a bunch of guys there: Covington, Boucher, Prince, Young. It's entirely possible Bryant or Harrell would settle for a 1+1 to rehab value.

[mhd]

I'd much rather have Harrell vs Bryant. But, I'm not one who'd pay a ton for backup centers. We could always sign Robin Lopez back for 1 year next year (its not like his game is predicated on athleticism).

[queridiculo]

I'd much rather have Harrell vs Bryant. But, I'm not one who'd pay a ton for backup centers. We could always sign Robin Lopez back for 1 year next year (its not like his game is predicated on athleticism).

Given the choice between Harrell and Bryant I'd pick the latter and not think twice about it.

With Gafford in the fold Bryant adds an element to the position that we do not have otherwise.

If you could count on Harrell to be a defensive stopper I'd change my tune, but since he's not any more prolific in that aspect than Bryant I'd prefer the guy that can run and space the floor.

[I_Like_Dirt]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects Bryant's next contract. If Gafford shows that he can play 30 minutes a night, then we might not want to spend much money on a second center. Rather than pay Bryant $10-15M to play 18 minutes a game, I'd rather look for a guy like Dario Saric or Taj Gibson to do it for less. Or maybe just sign a cheap minutes eater like Alex Len for the regular season, and ultimately phase him out in the playoffs in favor of a small ball lineup with Rui at backup center.

But if Gafford can only play 25 minutes a night, then there might be enough money to spend the full MLE plus maybe $1-2M more on Bryant.

I think the aim is to have Todd take over for Bryant as a complimentary small ball 5 that can stretch the floor, weakside shot blocker, and be a mismatch.
I think the 3-headed Center is here it stay.
Starter (Gafford) - Elite Defender and lob threat
Backup (Harrell) - Energy big that rebounds and provides physicality.
Small ball 5 (Todd) - Stretch Big that can a mismatch against slower bigs and play the 4 in a big lineup

Dont be shocked if they give Harrell the full MLE this offseason. Thats a Center rotation that can compete with anyone in the league for less than 15% of the cap. Allows us to focus resources on hall handlers and two way wings.

I disagree completely. The 3-headed center was an anomaly. We won't be paying 3 centers big money going forward. You may be right that Todd is being groomed to play center, but he will be a third stringer who only plays in garbage time. That's fine since he is only being paid just above vet minimum money. If Todd develops enough to be good enough for the regular rotation by his second contract, we will pay him and trade/cut our 2nd string center.

But the real point is that we won't be keeping both Harrell and Bryant. It'll just be one of them. Which one depends on the price. I'm pretty confident they would much rather retain Bryant. But if Bryant costs $12M while Harrell only costs $6M, maybe they'll keep Harrell.

I don't know that 3-headed centers are a good idea but I do think 2-headed is the direction the league is headed for any team that doesn't have a borderline allstar C or better. Gafford may prove to be such a player but that level of conditioning for that size of player with that level of ability is really rare.

You can get maybe around that need by having a superstar forward who overrides the need for more than one C like the Bucks have with Giannis but even there Lopez hasn't played 30 mpg since he left Brooklyn. Jakob Poeltl played just under 27 mpg in SA last season and he's a reasonable example here I think. Pushing a C into a 30 mpg role isn't necessarily ideal. Very few teams do that anymore unless their C is really good.

[doclinkin]

I disagree completely. The 3-headed center was an anomaly. We won't be paying 3 centers big money going forward. You may be right that Todd is being groomed to play center, but he will be a third stringer who only plays in garbage time. That's fine since he is only being paid just above vet minimum money. If Todd develops enough to be good enough for the regular rotation by his second contract, we will pay him and trade/cut our 2nd string center.

But the real point is that we won't be keeping both Harrell and Bryant. It'll just be one of them. Which one depends on the price. I'm pretty confident they would much rather retain Bryant. But if Bryant costs $12M while Harrell only costs $6M, maybe they'll keep Harrell.

An anomaly or an outlier?

LA is going Big. Philly is built around a traditional center (albeit with a bit of range) and had a giant PG. PHX may not be trying to pay him but Ayton is big for them. The Bucks play huge as well. The teams that rise in the playoffs seem to be trending away from small ball/outside shooting and towards players who can score in the paint when things get tight.

I think a smart team who is trying to Moneyball the game will look at the production of the 3-headed center rotation and see that as one way to counter the teams who do rely on a giant in the front court. I think we will see a trend of teams looking to snatch up playable frontcourt bigs. Granted if we did better in the playoffs that would go further, but traditional bigs are undervalued right now for the production they can give. At some point I get the feeling that the pendulum swing is noticed, and bigs start earning it back. Now would be the time to lock in skilled Bigs as assets.

Yes that changes if Bryant is due for a significant bump in pay. Still, I don't know that other teams see it yet. Or value his sneakily high efficient production. To me his value increases under a good coach like Wes. Can his defense improve with technique and schemes? Did rehab paradoxically improve his lateral movement by concentrating on development of his core and lower body? (Instead of playing high level pick-up ball all offseason). If his D improves even incrementally then he is a real weapon as a player. This team is built with outside scoring shooters. Foul generating ballhandlers. And low-post production from high efficient Bigs. Bryant adds to that last category, and gives a pick and pop option that opens up the middle if he can get it going reliably. This is a weapon that Wes' last team made heavy use of. Bryant is no Jokic, but nor will he be paid like him.

To me it remains to be seen what value Bryant may have on this team. I regret that like Rui he will have missed live reps in training camp and preseason. Chemistry will be key for him, as it is for any pass-dependent player. But if he can pick up where he left off, including the improved Defense and rebounding he showed in the bubble, then to me he is not an asset we can afford to squander. Plus I am curious how he plays with fellow high energy Big Trez Harrell. I think this team could really do well playing each of them 15-20 minutes a night. Some nights one will have a mismatch or the hot hand, some nights it will be the next guy. Teams who have to game-plan against a highly versatile team would have to add to the scouting report when the Wiz add a Big who can lob it in from catapult range. Much of that is up to Wes and to how quickly the players gel with each other. Much of it is literally in the hands of Spencer Dinwiddie.

As for Zay Todd. Nah I don't see a small ball center there. He's a forward. Especially until he adds significant grown-man muscle.

[nate33]

I think you completely missed my point. The Center position is tough to fill because you have giant humans playing at a fast pace, which makes loggin heavy minutes tough due to fatigue and injury. They are also required to be the defensive backbone which often puts them in foul trouble.
Quite simply, its too hard to build your team around the Center position. Its much more economical and risk averse to have 2, maybe 3 guys that can protect the paint, switch on the perimeter, rebound, and stretch the floor.

You made my point. You need to fill 48 minutes at the 5 and you cant overpay to do so. So you pay 1 guy to be a starter (Gafford), another guy ~MLE to feast on backups (Harrell/Bryant), and a third guy with more positional flexibility to be a mismatch.

Im not sure of your disagreement

When you said 3-headed center, I thought your implication was that the 3 centers would play on a regular basis like last season. I disagree with that. We will play 2 centers like most teams. We will of course keep a 3rd center on the roster at vet-minimum type money for injuries and foul trouble, but he won't make the regular rotation.

[FAH1223]

There's not much cap space in 2022. Bryant being be the 3rd or 4th best C in the FA class means he'll be in MLE land or lower. I'd imagine Bryant isn't getting much of a raise on his current salary.

[nate33]

To me it remains to be seen what value Bryant may have on this team. I regret that like Rui he will have missed live reps in training camp and preseason. Chemistry will be key for him, as it is for any pass-dependent player. But if he can pick up where he left off, including the improved Defense and rebounding he showed in the bubble, then to me he is not an asset we can afford to squander. Plus I am curious how he plays with fellow high energy Big Trez Harrell. I think this team could really do well playing each of them 15-20 minutes a night. Some nights one will have a mismatch or the hot hand, some nights it will be the next guy. Teams who have to game-plan against a highly versatile team would have to add to the scouting report when the Wiz add a Big who can lob it in from catapult range. Much of that is up to Wes and to how quickly the players gel with each other. Much of it is literally in the hands of Spencer Dinwiddie.

Sure. We can try out a 3-center rotation this year because, through flukes over the last 6 months (the opportunistic acquisition of Gafford and then getting Harrell as salary filler), we actually have 3 legit big men deserving of minutes. I'm just saying we won't maintain that going forward. No smart team should spend significant money on a 3rd center. That money is better spent at other positions.

One of Harrell or Bryant will be gone next year. Indeed, if Bryant comes back and plays well, one of them might be gone by the Trade Deadline this year.

[tontoz]

Nice job signing him ASAP before his value goes up any more.

[pcbothwel]

To me it remains to be seen what value Bryant may have on this team. I regret that like Rui he will have missed live reps in training camp and preseason. Chemistry will be key for him, as it is for any pass-dependent player. But if he can pick up where he left off, including the improved Defense and rebounding he showed in the bubble, then to me he is not an asset we can afford to squander. Plus I am curious how he plays with fellow high energy Big Trez Harrell. I think this team could really do well playing each of them 15-20 minutes a night. Some nights one will have a mismatch or the hot hand, some nights it will be the next guy. Teams who have to game-plan against a highly versatile team would have to add to the scouting report when the Wiz add a Big who can lob it in from catapult range. Much of that is up to Wes and to how quickly the players gel with each other. Much of it is literally in the hands of Spencer Dinwiddie.

Sure. We can try out a 3-center rotation this year because, through flukes over the last 6 months (the opportunistic acquisition of Gafford and then getting Harrell as salary filler), we actually have 3 legit big men deserving of minutes. I'm just saying we won't maintain that going forward. No smart team should spend significant money on a 3rd center. That money is better spent at other positions.

One of Harrell or Bryant will be gone next year. Indeed, if Bryant comes back and plays well, one of them might be gone by the Trade Deadline this year.

Nate, we had one of the more productive center rotations last year with Bryant, Lopex, and Len... was that a fluke?

No. As Doc said, the league is learning in a similar way the NFL did with RBs a decade ago. Stop looking for Adrian Peterson and overpaying/drafting the position. Get 2-3 guys that, in the aggregate, do everything at a B level and reallocate your resources to your primary ball handlers and wings.

[payitforward]

Nice work, makes up for the awful 5-year Bertans contract, the rotation will be interesting when Bryant returns

Is it really awful? Or just slightly above market value? Look at what Duncan Robinson got this off-season. Is he significantly better?

Robinson was overpaid based on, essentially, one really good year. At least one can imagine he set a level for himself.

Bertans had been in the league 4-5 years. Even his best years (the last in SA & the first with us) did not warrant the deal he got -- especially its length. He had never even been a starter & was unlikely to become one. It was a massive over-pay.

More importantly, it's difficult to consider the deal he got without referencing the fact that we'd been offered a R1 pick for him & turned it down.

All in all, it was 100% a mistake.

[nate33]

To me it remains to be seen what value Bryant may have on this team. I regret that like Rui he will have missed live reps in training camp and preseason. Chemistry will be key for him, as it is for any pass-dependent player. But if he can pick up where he left off, including the improved Defense and rebounding he showed in the bubble, then to me he is not an asset we can afford to squander. Plus I am curious how he plays with fellow high energy Big Trez Harrell. I think this team could really do well playing each of them 15-20 minutes a night. Some nights one will have a mismatch or the hot hand, some nights it will be the next guy. Teams who have to game-plan against a highly versatile team would have to add to the scouting report when the Wiz add a Big who can lob it in from catapult range. Much of that is up to Wes and to how quickly the players gel with each other. Much of it is literally in the hands of Spencer Dinwiddie.

Sure. We can try out a 3-center rotation this year because, through flukes over the last 6 months (the opportunistic acquisition of Gafford and then getting Harrell as salary filler), we actually have 3 legit big men deserving of minutes. I'm just saying we won't maintain that going forward. No smart team should spend significant money on a 3rd center. That money is better spent at other positions.

One of Harrell or Bryant will be gone next year. Indeed, if Bryant comes back and plays well, one of them might be gone by the Trade Deadline this year.

Nate, we had one of the more productive center rotations last year with Bryant, Lopex, and Len... was that a fluke?

No. As Doc said, the league is learning in a similar way the NFL did with RBs a decade ago. Stop looking for Adrian Peterson and overpaying/drafting the position. Get 2-3 guys that, in the aggregate, do everything at a B level and reallocate your resources to your primary ball handlers and wings.

Len was a minimum salary guy, so he didn't hurt our cap situation. And frankly, I'm not so sure one can say that we were better with all 3 centers in the rotation. I think Gafford should have taken most of Len's minutes.

[verbal8]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This is good news.

I think Gafford and Bryant are going to be the key to how the Wizards do this year. The backcourt should be strong. There are some question marks at the forwards. If the Wizards can generally win the Center match-ups, it should be a good season. If they struggle and the forwards don't surprise, it could be a very long season.

[I_Like_Dirt]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

This is good news.

I think Gafford and Bryant are going to be the key to how the Wizards do this year. The backcourt should be strong. There are some question marks at the forwards. If the Wizards can generally win the Center match-ups, it should be a good season. If they struggle and the forwards don't surprise, it could be a very long season.

I think the bigger issue is health. The forwards have question marks but there are so many of them that someone will always be there with a reasonable level of play. If either Dinwiddie or Beal go down for any significant stretch, that backcourt disintegrates fast. And the sooner Bryant returns the better, not because of Gafford, but to push Harrell down the pecking order a bit.

[doclinkin]

I'd much rather have Harrell vs Bryant. But, I'm not one who'd pay a ton for backup centers. We could always sign Robin Lopez back for 1 year next year (its not like his game is predicated on athleticism).

Given the choice between Harrell and Bryant I'd pick the latter and not think twice about it.

With Gafford in the fold Bryant adds an element to the position that we do not have otherwise.

If you could count on Harrell to be a defensive stopper I'd change my tune, but since he's not any more prolific in that aspect than Bryant I'd prefer the guy that can run and space the floor.

The element that Trez adds better than Bryant is proficiency in the Pick and Roll. Harrell has remarkably good hands while in motion, and good ball control putting it on the floor. Bryant's hands are more wooden and his coordination is not as advanced at Trez. Dinwiddie will make Harrell look good when they are able to develop their timing. Bryant scores from a standstill at a highly efficient rate, but scoring off movement is not his strength.

I like all 3 and they all have strengths that a good coach can utilize. I don't know that we can afford all 3 after this year, but I do think that playable centers will not be undervalued for much longer. Having a few under contract is not a bad thing. That said Harrell has an expiring deal as well, so if all 3 play well for us this year then likely Trez/TB will attract offers that are enticing. Doubtless Bryant would like to start if there was opportunity to do so.