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Mavericks Announce Daniel Gafford Injury Update Before Spurs Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Kevin Matthew Borba | Last updated Oct 21, 2025 7:13 PM ET

The Dallas Mavericks certainly made their fair share of headlines over the past year, going from trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February to miraculously getting the No. 1 overall pick and selecting Duke's Cooper Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft.

With all the noise centered around that sequence of events behind us, the new-look Mavericks centered around Flagg will make their regular-season debut on Wednesday. One of the players that is expected to play a large role for the team and possibly in Flagg's development is forward Daniel Gafford.

In his first full season with the team last year after being acquired by trade the year prior, Gafford averaged 12.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while making 70% of his shots.

Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) grabs a rebound against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at State Farm Arena.© Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Gafford is someone who is a relentless rebounder and lob threat, and helps anchor what could be one of the deepest front courts in the NBA, along with Anthony Davis, Derrick Lively II and PJ Washington.

However, with head coach Jason Kidd still needing to tinker with the lineups to find the right combination, it appears that he will have to do so without Gafford on Wednesday. Gafford sprained his ankle on the very first day of training camp earlier this month, and ESPN's Tim MacMahon revealed at the time that he was expected to be out for two or three weeks.

He was at one point viewed as questionable in the build-up to the game, but the team downgraded him to "doubtful" on Tuesday, as confirmed by ESPN.

The injury comes after he missed the final two months of the last NBA season due to a Grade 3 MCL sprain.

The Mavericks are set to host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in a game that will tip at 9:30 p.m. ET and air on ESPN.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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