Daniel Gafford Looking Forward to Showing Off New Skill in Mavericks Offense

The Dallas Mavericks will be doing a lot of different things in the Dusty May era, as he looks to innovate the offense into one that's much more effective than it was a season ago.

One of the things that May wants is for his centers to shoot threes, including Daniel Gafford, who has only attempted one three-pointer this far in his seven-year career.

It'll be interesting to see if this works for the Mavericks, but May had success with it at Michigan, allowing Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr. to shoot threes when they were open.

Gafford was asked about the new addition to his game, and he seems excited to show what he's got.

“The first couple of misses, I think I'll knock the rust off and be able to knock a couple of shots down. I'm looking forward to it," Gafford said after practice on Friday. "They're putting a lot of faith in me to be able to take those shots, so it's only right that I do the same for myself.”

Daniel Gafford on adding 3s: “The first couple of misses I think I'll knock the rust off and be able to knock a couple of shots down. I'm looking forward to it. They're putting a lot of faith in me to be able to take those shots, so it's only right that I do the same for myself.” pic.twitter.com/X0qYJ2CxxO
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) October 2, 2026

For someone who hasn't attempted many threes in his career, Gafford does have a good-looking shot. Granted, we've only seen his shot in practice and not in a real game, and of his 316 shot attempts last season, 268 of them were within five feet of the rim.

That doesn't necessarily profile as someone who can shoot threes, but they likely won't ask Gafford to shoot many, just to shoot them when they're there.

Sep 25, 2026; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward/center Daniel Gafford (21) poses for a photo during the Mavericks media day at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Thought Process Behind Gafford Shooting Threes

Having a rim-running center like Daniel Gafford shoot threes sometimes is not what most people would think to do, but you can understand how Coach May would get there.

The Mavericks have two stars who love to attack the basket: Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving.

Traditional thinking would pair them with a rim-runner like Gafford to have the lob threat, but that also clogs the lane at times.

Having the option for the big to pop open for three could cause that split second of hesitation from the defense to allow those ball-handlers to get downhill.

It would be surprising if Gafford took more than one per game, as he's still at his best rolling to the rim and being in position for offensive rebounds. But if he sinks a couple just to keep the defense honest, that would really help open up this Mavericks offense that wants to play fast.

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