It's not even October and one Mavericks player seems destined to be traded

The Dallas Mavericks undoubtedly have one of the deepest rosters in the league heading into next season, but most of their talent is definitely allocated in their frontcourt. Sure, Dallas didn't anticipate landing the No. 1 overall pick and getting the privilege to select Cooper Flagg, but Flagg's addition boosts an already loaded frontcourt with Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, P.J. Washington, and Naji Marshall.

While the Mavericks having this deep a frontcourt isn't a bad problem to have by any means, there are only so many minutes to go around in an NBA game, and the Mavericks could end up being hard-pressed to play double-big lineups all the time if spacing and shooting concerns prevail. If this ends up being the case, the Mavericks may need to trade someone out of their frontcourt at some point this season.

With Washington being ineligible to be traded this season after his contract extension, this likely leaves Gafford as the most plausible trade candidate. Gafford will be netting around $14 million before taxes this upcoming season, as his salary is extremely matchable when looking at trades across the league.

The Mavs may be forced to trade Daniel Gafford this season

Now, if Dallas' double-big formula is working wonders a few weeks into the season, there's no reason to blow things up and trade Gafford for another wing shooter or guard, but this is an option that will remain on the back-burner until if/when the Mavericks are unable to sustain their perimeter defense and don't have a diverse enough offense because of their impetus to play double-big.

With center being the easiest position to offload out of any on Dallas' roster because of Davis' ability to also play the five, this is mainly why Gafford would be the most expendable player out of Dallas' frontcourt, especially since Lively II is younger and may have more potential. However, this shouldn't undermine that Gafford was an absolute unit last season, and the Mavericks could elect to ship out Marshall's $9 million salary instead, though that would likely be a smaller trade.

If the Mavericks really wanted to shake things up, they could obviously field the trade market for Davis, but this would be a giant concession of failure on the Luka Doncic trade, and this is a scenario that would only present itself if the Mavericks were miles out of the playoff picture by the trade deadline.

For Nico Harrison's "defense wins championships" mantra to align with how the Mavericks play this season, it'd be in Dallas' best interest that their size and physicality in their double-big lineups prove to be too overwhelming for most opponents to deal with, but there's obviously a chance this doesn't happen, and head coach Jason Kidd would be forced to change the team's play-style if this is the case.

The Mavericks must be careful not to make a trade that could be detrimental, though, as there's no reason to settle for less in any capacity if they elect to move on from one of Marshall, Gafford, or even Davis, and this is undoubtedly more of a proposition if things go haywire.