Gafford Watch: Still In the 1st Round

SB Nation (1/23): 29th - San Antonio Spurs

Well that wouldn’t be a bad spot for Daniel Gafford. San Antonio has been the model of consistency in the NBA and they have developed plenty of late first round picks into solid role players in their recent history.

ESPN (1/7): 21st - Utah Jazz

Derrick Favors could be on his way out of Utah and the Jazz could turn Gafford into Rudy Gobert 2.0. That would be a nice spot for him to land.

CBS Sports Prospect Rankings: 25th

No picks here but CBS Sports has him ranked pretty much in line with the rest of these mock drafts. They have him as the third ranked center, behind Bol Bol and Jontay Porter.

Tankathon (1/20): 24th - Boston Celtics

It seems like every mock grouping has had Gafford heading to Boston in at least one mock. They have a ton of firsts lined up in this draft and can afford to take a flyer on a project with a high ceiling like Gafford.

So in the 20’s seems to be the consensus in January, without the ability to knockdown a jumper and the NBA moving away from traditional post up big men, lottery teams don’t want to take a flyer on Gafford. But as these picks show, there’s still a first round spot for him somewhere.

That first round line will be crucial for Gafford, a first round draft pick means two years guaranteed in his contract. That second round pick would mean he isn’t guaranteed a contract, so it’s a pretty big deal to land in that first round.