Mavericks' roster crunch reinforces one obvious trade candidate

With the NBA season rapidly approaching, the Dallas Mavericks still have moves to make. The Mavericks' roster, as it currently stands, is at 16 players, and beyond that, even though there's no maximum capacity for any such position, their frontcourt is at a surplus. Taking those two circumstances into account, there's one rather obvious trade candidate the Mavericks must be willing to part ways with: Daniel Gafford.

Gafford, having spent just two and a half seasons in Dallas, is already one of the longest-tenured Mavericks. In fact, he's third among current Mavericks in games played for the organization.

Yet, longevity isn't necessarily a requirement for this Mavericks squad, as its newly tabbed head coach has yet to coach an NBA game, its president of basketball operations is only a few months into the job, and its best player is a 19-year-old soon-to-be sophomore. All in all, this team is vastly different from when Gafford first arrived, and even much different from just a few months ago.

The Mavericks have a completely reshaped frontcourt

With that being said, even though Gafford has been a trade candidate for quite some time, dating back to last season's trade deadline, he figures to be even more expendable now following Dallas' series of offseason moves.

Since the Mavericks' season finale on April 13, they've let Marvin Bagley III, Khris Middleton, Dwight Powell, and Brandon Williams walk, while trading AJ Johnson and Ryan Nembhard. Moreover, they've traded for Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberovic, Zaccharie Risacher, and Marcus Sasser, while drafting Sergio De Larrea, Morez Johnson Jr., Tobi Lawal, and Vsevolod Ishchenko (although he'll play overseas next season).

As you can see, there's been a drastic infusion of talent. Yet most of all, President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri has really loaded up on the frontcourt. Of the new additions, Aldama, Biberovic, Johnson Jr., Lawal, and Risacher are all frontcourt players, joining an already crowded group that Dallas featured last season.

But Dallas didn't stop there; it even doubled down on its frontcourt with several re-signings, including Moussa Cisse and Naji Marshall.

Daniel Gafford has become the odd man out

Of course, not all frontcourt positions are the same. For instance, Risacher will probably play some shooting guard, while Marshall will take on some playmaking responsibilities as a de facto point guard at times. Neither player will eat into Gafford's workload, as he's one of three true centers on the roster.

Still, that doesn't mean Gafford isn't arguably Dallas' most expendable player. After drafting Johnson Jr., re-signing Cisse, and even beginning exploratory extension talks with Dereck Lively II, it seems Gafford is the odd man out, even though he's primed to be the Mavericks' Opening Night starter.

Throw Aldama into the mix, and Gafford is the oldest of the bigs and also the most expensive. Furthermore, while Aldama and Johnson Jr. add a different dimension than Lively II does, Gafford is a very similar player to Lively II, making him feel even more expendable.

Although Gafford has been floated as a trade candidate for quite some time, Dallas' recent influx of bigs, along with its overfilled roster, has only reinforced Gafford's trade candidacy, making a forthcoming move feel all but inevitable.

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