Daniel Gafford (born October 1, 1998) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

and was drafted in the second round of the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

. He plays both the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

positions.

High school career

Gafford was a four star recruit in high school, and received offers in 2015 from multiple schools, including

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, Vanderbilt, and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. On August 1, 2015, Gafford went to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Gafford also used to played football growing up and played at wide receiver until ninth grade at El Dorado High School. He was also in the marching band and credits that to the development of his skill set.

College career

In his first start for the Razorbacks, Gafford finished a perfect 8 for 8 shooting, along with 7 rebounds and 6 blocks against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Gafford posted 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks against No. 14

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. After a freshman season where he averaged 11.8 points 6.2 rebounds per game, Gafford announced that he would return to Arkansas for his sophomore year rather than declare for the

2018 NBA Draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

. After his freshman season, Gafford was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. On March 18, 2019, after Gafford's sophomore season, it was announced that Gafford would skip the

2019 National Invitation Tournament The 2019 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams that were not selected to participate in the 2019 NCAA tournament. The tournament started on March 19, and con ...

to prepare for the

. Gafford improved his statistics during his second year at Arkansas, averaging 16.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. He was named to the 2019 SEC All-Defensive Team, as well as a 1st Team All-SEC pick.

Professional career

Chicago Bulls (2019–2021)

Gafford was the 38th overall selection by the

in the

2019 NBA Draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

. On July 8, 2019, the

declared that they had signed Gafford. On October 26, 2019, Gafford played his NBA debut, coming off the bench in an 84–108 loss to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

with a rebound. He was assigned to the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

for opening night of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

season. On January 15, 2020, Gafford injured his thumb just 1 minute and 21 seconds into a match against the

. The next day, it was announced that he wouldn't play for around two to four weeks because he had a dislocated thumb.

Washington Wizards (2021–present)

On March 25, 2021, Gafford was traded to the

in a three-team trade involving the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

. During the 2021 NBA playoffs, Daniel Gafford broke the all-time record for field goal percentage (minimum 15 shot attempts) with an astounding 84.6%. On October 18, 2021, Gafford signed a three-year, $40.2 million contract extension with the Wizards. On March 7, 2023, Gafford made a buzzer-beating, game-winning putback in a 119–117 win over the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 43 , , 7 , , 14.2 , , .701 , , — , , .533 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 1.3 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 31 , , 11 , , 12.4 , , .690 , , — , , .659 , , 3.3 , , .5 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, 23 , , 0 , , 17.7 , , .681 , , — , , .672 , , 5.6 , , .5 , , .7 , , 1.8 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 53 , , 20.1 , , .693 , , .000 , , .699 , , 5.7 , , .9 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 9.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 169 , , 71 , , 16.8 , , .692 , , .000 , , .657 , , 4.4 , , .7 , , .4 , , 1.4 , , 7.6

Playoffs

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, 5 , , 2 , , 23.4 , , .846 , , — , , .625 , , 5.8 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 11.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 5 , , 2 , , 23.4 , , .846 , , — , , .625 , , 5.8 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 11.8

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 26 , , 22.6 , , .605 , , – , , .528 , , 6.2 , , .7 , , .5 , , 2.2 , , 11.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 28.7 , , .660 , , – , , .591 , , 8.6 , , .7 , , .9 , , 1.9 , , 16.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 67 , , 58 , , 25.5 , , .635 , , – , , .562 , , 7.4 , , .7 , , .7 , , 2.1 , , 14.5

References

External links

NBA.com profileArkansas Razorbacks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gafford, Daniel 1998 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players People from El Dorado, Arkansas Power forwards (basketball) Washington Wizards players Windy City Bulls players 21st-century African-American sportspeople