Big man Daniel Gafford, acquired by the Wizards last week, has been diagnosed with a right ankle sprain following an MRI, the team’s PR department tweets. He’ll be re-evaluated in approximately 10 days.
The Wizards play six games during the first 10 days of April and will be in the midst of a six-game West Coast trip, so it’s a safe bet that Gafford won’t be back in action at least until the team returns home. That would mean he’d miss a minimum of eight games.
Gafford was acquired from the Bulls in a three-team deal that also involved the Celtics. He made an immediate impact, contributing 13 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes against Detroit on Saturday. He had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks in 15 minutes against Indiana on Monday before suffering the injury.
Coach Scott Brooks was excited to have the rim-running Gafford join the rotation. “We’re going to keep working with him. He’s definitely a keeper,” Brooks said. “He has a chance to be good for a lot of years with his skill set.”
A 2019 second-round pick, Gafford has a $1.78MM salary next season that doesn’t fully guarantee until next January.
Sucks
Bad break for him, but not unusual. He and WCJ were rarely available at the same time due to injuries. That is part of why they were traded.