Daniel Gafford

In Gafford's second season in the league, the 6-foot-10 center established himself as an effective rim protector and a consistent offensive lob threat. Gafford's 2020-21 season started off with the Bulls where he played in 31 games before being traded to the Wizards right around the trade deadline. In his time with the Bulls, the 22-year-old averaged 4.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. His stats improved significantly while on the Wizards as the center posted averages of 10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 0.7 steals. Gafford emerged on the Wizards as a defensive role-playing center until the very end of the season where he earned the start in the team's final two games in the playoffs. One of Gafford's best games of the year was on April 21 in a win against the Warriors, where the big man logged his first career double-double, notching 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. The former Arkansas standout finished the season with three double-doubles and 22 games scoring double-digit points. On the defensive end, Gafford dominated as he recorded at least one block in 26 of his 30 games with the Wizards. The former second-round pick's best defensive performance on the season came versus the Cavaliers on April 25; Gafford finished with an impressive four steals and four blocks. In the playoffs, the center stepped up his game and averaged 11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals in five games against the 76ers.

Following two collegiate seasons at Arkansas, Gafford was selected with the 38th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Bulls. He made his NBA debut Oct. 26 against the Raptors, grabbing one rebound in two minutes. Overall, he appeared in 43 out of a possible 65 games during the coronavirus-shortened season. Gafford averaged 5.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14.2 minutes per contest. He shot an impressive 70.1 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from the charity stripe. On Nov. 18, Gafford scored a season-high 21 points (10-12 FG, 1-2 FT) and added five boards and two blocks in 20 minutes of play during a home loss to the Bucks. On Dec. 13, the rookie blocked a season-high six shots versus Charlotte. Gafford had seven performances with double-digit points, four performances with at least five rebounds and four performances with multiple assists. He also racked up five games with at least three blocks. In the 11 games that Gafford saw at least 20 minutes, he averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. In November, Gafford also played three G League games for the Windy City Bulls, during which he averaged 16.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.0 steals per contest.