Bulls Rumors: 3 young players to give up in a Lonzo Ball trade

Players to send to Nola for Lonzo Ball No. 3: Daniel Gafford

What the second-year former Arkansas Razorbacks center Daniel Gafford showed first-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls on March 21 in their win over the Detroit Pistons was special. Coming off the bench, Gafford registered a team-high 11 rebounds, eight points, and two blocks, in just 14 minutes played.

It goes to show that Gafford could still either hold a lot of value in the Bulls rotation or on the trade market if they wanted to move him. One thing is for sure, Donovan doesn’t have him holding an integral role in his frontcourt rotation at the moment. For much of the season, Gafford found himself in a lower second or third unit center reserve role.

Gafford has averaged just north of a dozen minutes on the floor per game. And he hasn’t even seen the floor in just shy of a dozen of the games the Bulls have played in so far this season. A hidden gem of a pick for the Bulls former front office regime of John Paxson and Gar Forman in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft hasn’t produced much this season.

However, if the Bulls are to make better use of any of the player assets they could move this year, then having someone like Gafford hit the trade block might be the right move. It is true that Gafford should have a bigger role than he does now. But it also seems true that Gafford’s rim running big man skill set isn’t the most ideal fit with Donovan’s offensive scheme.