Game 42: Oklahoma City Thunder (34-6) vs. Dallas Mavericks (22-19) | 7:30pm CST

[KillerLeft]

This is spot on imo. His offense is definitely a concern since he isn't a willing shooter. The defense is still there, but how long until people stop closing out on him?

They already have stopped closing out, and that's my point. He passes, even with no close out. Not a late or lazy closeout, but without ANY close out, whatsoever. That's a problem. The good news, I guess, is that it seems to be between his ears, so maybe someone can convince him to start shooting again.

EDIT: Having said that, he's definitely still a viable option, even in his current state, due to his defense, which in some ways is the best of all the team's center options. Kidd closed the game with him last night specifically because Gafford and his change of direction wasn't going to be able to hang down the stretch. The result was a win, and Kleber caused 5-7 crucial misses in the last 3-4 minutes. Those shots would've been Gafford's rotation responsibility, and I'd bet money at least a couple would've gone in had he been in the game.