Chicago Bulls: Potential answer to why Daniel Gafford didn’t get more minutes
Many Chicago Bulls fans grew frustrated at times this season with how little run big man Daniel Gafford was getting. This is before he was traded to the Washington Wizards, obviously. Those same people frustrated by his lack of playing time were likely confused when news broke that he was being traded to the Wizards.
It was reasonable to wonder about his playing time and because of that, question the decision to move him. We had seen glimpses of him being a rim-protecting big man and that is something the Bulls were lacking behind Nikola Vucevic who was traded for a few hours earlier in the day.
Is this why Daniel Gafford never saw more minutes?
We may now have the answer to why Gafford didn’t see extended playing time. Fred Katz of The Athletic shared recent discussions around the Wizards as they continue their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Scott Brooks mentioned the other day he doesn't play Daniel Gafford for long stretches bc of fatigue issues.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 28, 2021
Today, Gafford confirmed that. Said he’s asked out of games “bc of the honor system” and added "Letting fatigue set in, a team can see that as a weakness."
Full quote: pic.twitter.com/yH84T61D46
Head coach Scott Brooks and Daniel Gafford himself are open about the situation regarding his playing time and how it is affected by fatigue. That could be the main reason he didn’t see more run with the Bulls this season. It also could have played into their decision to move him.
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It’s good for a player to do what’s best for his team and be honest, which Gafford appears on board with. It is also fair for a franchise to expect this issue to not be present for their players.
Gafford has the potential to be in the league for a long time but he will need to solve his conditioning issues sooner than later to make that happen. His regular-season minutes jumped from 12.4 per game with the Bulls to 17.8 with the Wizards.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out long-term for Gafford and the hope among many is it’s not a long-term issue. Gafford can develop into a nice NBA center if he is able to stay on the court.
Either way, this might explain why the Bulls were so quick to move on from him in his second NBA season. They did get a player in return a lot of people really like, Troy Brown Jr. We will see how the trade looks down the road but for now, we have a potential answer as to why the team traded him in the first place.
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