Daniel Gafford (C, WAS) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 19

February 19, 2023

Daniel Gafford is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 19 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 14+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 14% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It's been a tale of two very different seasons for Daniel Gafford in DC this campaign. From tip-off day to December 19, he appeared in 31 games, averaging 15 MPG while not starting even one of those outings. From December 20 through the All-Star break, though, he's played 25 games, starting all of them and logging a much healthier 24 MPG.

Gafford is a limited big man that only knows how to operate inside. Good for the Wizards, though, they happen to have Kristaps Porzingis around to stretch the floor even at his high altitude. In other words, it's not that they will ever demand Gafford to do more than he knows how to.

The center entered the break on a bit of a slump more because of a lack of usage (lower than his already usual low) than playing bad basketball. It only spanned three games, though, so it's not a real reason for concern.

In the two months since Gafford took the starting C role for himself, he's put up a nightly 11-6-1 stat line to go with 1.6 BPG added to that. In the NBA, considering stats from December 20 on, only 10 players including Gafford have put up all of those numbers together and only the Wiz and Onyeka Okongwu are rostered in fewer than 84% of all ESPN leagues.

Gafford boasts impressive FG% (obviously) but his volume of FGA is not going to give you more than four or five shot attempts a pop. The freebies are bouncy and the TOPG sits at nearly 1.0 through the season.

The massive shot-blocking numbers more than make up for everything and bring most of Gafford's upside to the table--he's swatted 23 total shots in his last 10 games before the break.

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