Porzingis plays for the Boston Celtics while Gafford plays for the Mavericks. Both are significant contributors to their teams.
The Washington Wizards had very little chance of making the NBA playoffs or being relevant this season. But some of the players they have traded away within the last year have played big roles to get their current teams this season, and now they are in the NBA Conference Finals. We’re talking about Boston Celtics forward Kristaps Porzingis and Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford.
Porzingis was traded last June to Boston in a deal most Wizards fans still consider a crime. But this season, he played 57 games, started in all of them and averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the NBA’s best team in the regular season. Porzingis only played four games in the first round of the playoffs, averaging just 12.3 points before suffering a right calf injury, or more specifically, a soleus strain. He hasn’t returned since, but it’s possible that he could return since the injury wasn’t as bad as previously feared.
Gafford was traded to the Mavericks at the most recent trade deadline last February. He has ultimately emerged as their starting center, averaging 11.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in the regular season for his Dallas appearances while making an insane 78 percent of his field goal attempts, though they are mostly at the rim. He has remained Dallas’ starting center in the playoffs, averaging 8.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Most of us don’t really have much at stake besides betting on games at this point in the NBA season. But would you like to see a Celtics vs. Mavericks NBA Finals, especially if Porzingis can return to play by then? Let us know in the comments below.