2019 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: The post Combine edition, OKC Thunder still focused on shooting
By Rylan Stiles
Daniel Gafford. C. Arkansas. 27. player. 147. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis
Daniel Gafford is your classic rim running center that can range from Nerlens Noel like, to a ceiling of Clint Capela. His upside and potential high ceiling make him an enticing late first round pick.
Gafford is a great screener and can go up and throw down lobs with the best of them. His 8.7 rebounds per game show just how hard he works down low to clean up the glass. Like Jarret Allen, he is a great shot blocker, so his fit on the Nets might be a bit redundant but it is not impossible to see the two coexisting on the hardwood much less the same roster.
In a man to man defense, Gafford is excellent, but he has not been thrust into that much zone defense that the Nets would ask him to play in at times. It is usually the opposite for prospects. They come from college looking like a better defender due to their team running a zone and the NBA organization needs them to learn how to play man to man.
Gafford will not provide spacing though, and that is a problem in 2019. He does not have a quality mid-range game much less a trey ball.