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Mavericks' competition for starting center will be closer than anyone realizes

Jared A’Latorre
Jared A’Latorre

The Smoking Cuban

Dallas Mavericks, Daniel Gafford / Stacy Revere/GettyImages

It's been a long time since the Dallas Mavericks had a good problem on their hands, specifically at the starting center spot.

Before the season, there's some questions on how the big man spot will play out for Dallas.

Daniel Gafford maintained the starting big man duties since getting traded to Dallas, and he started throughout the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Now, the young Dereck Lively II had momentum to end the year and take some of Gafford's minutes, and he has already been speculated to become the starting five next season.

The Lively II-Gafford starting five battle is a fantastic problem for Dallas

There's a case for both Lively II and Gafford to start at some point in the season for Dallas.

During the NBA Finals, Lively II had a mature attitude despite not having the starting role for Dallas. Gafford was still starting with Lively II coming in and taking Gafford's spot within the first five minutes of the game.

Lively II just wants the team to succeed. He has a strong case to start next year for Dallas. His ability to work with Luka Doncic in the pick and roll will make for a deadly one-two punch in the near future. His ceiling is also higher than Gafford's, which is a high bar considering Gafford has been one of the league's most consistent shot blockers for the past few years.

One NBA reporter talked high about Lively II and included him in a category with some NBA greats.

This is a great problem for Dallas in what can be called a big man controversy going into training camp.

Gafford has proven he can start on a nightly basis, but it will be up to head coach Jason Kidd to make the decision. Either way, they have a solid rotation for whoever touches the floor during a game.

Gafford is loved by Mavs fans as the high-energy guy. His ability to block shots, get boards, and be automatic in the post are all great assets of Gafford's game. Not to mention, the midseason trade involving Gafford was arguably the difference maker for the Mavs to go all the way to the 2024 NBA Finals.

It's been a while since Dallas has had a solid big man rotation, and having this problem is effective, especially with both guys supporting one another. This "controversy" in a full season together can help take the team all the way to the NBA Finals once again.

Jared A’Latorre

Jared A’Latorre

Jared is the Site Expert of Sport DFW, and oversees Dallas sports all the time. He also spent time as a Senior Contributor to The Smoking Cuban, The Landry Hat and Gig Em' Gazette. His work has been featured on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports and MSN. He also covered various sports at Oklahoma State and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sports Media from Oklahoma State. He's done play-by-play radio broadcasting in North Central Oklahoma and currently does play-by-play radio broadcasting for high school football in North Texas. Jared is also a co-host for Grizzlies Digest, covering the Memphis Grizzlies. In his free time, Jared loves watching sports, spending time with family and friends and watching anything Billy Bob Thornton related.