Wizards, Daniel Gafford agree to three-year, $40.2M extension

Washington Wizards center Daniel Gafford Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Wizards, Daniel Gafford agree to three-year, $40.2 million contract extension

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 10/19/21

The Washington Wizards and big man Daniel Gafford have agreed on a three-year, $40.2 million contract extension.

Gafford, 23, is entering his third NBA season and now has a new extension that runs through the 2025-26 season. The 6-foot-11 big man arrived to the Wizards via trade from Chicago last season -- showing the ability to be a starting-caliber center. https://t.co/Rz52iG86cl
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2021

Gafford played two seasons for the University of Arkansas men's basketball team, averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per game across 67 career contests. The 23-year-old was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft and posted 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 14.2 minutes per contest over 43 games during his rookie year, including seven starts.

Last season in March, Gafford was part of a three-team blockbuster trade that saw him and Chandler Hutchison move from Chicago to Washington in a deal that also included the Boston Celtics. In 54 games split between the Bulls and Wizards during the 2020-2021 campaign, Gafford registered 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 14.6 minutes per contest, while also averaging 1.4 blocks, which put him 11th in the NBA.

In his first career postseason action last spring, the Razorbacks product played in all five games of the team's first-round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, posting 11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 23.4 minutes per contest.

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