The days of the Bulls over-hyping second round picks are over.
Coincidentally, they ended when the organization opted to make vice president of basketball operations John Paxson the voice of the franchise rather than keeping general manager Gar Forman in that spotlight.
In Forman’s world Paul Zipser was the next Dirk Nowitzki and Erik Murphy the next Kevin Love.
So when Daniel Gafford was introduced by Paxson on Monday, while the organization is privately very excited about the big man’s skillset, publicly Paxson kept it very simple.
No comparisons, no “we’re smarter than most organizations with this pick’’ attitude.
“Daniel is a young man that can defend the basket, he can run, can finish around the rim,’’ Paxson said, pointing out that will be the base they build around for the 6-foot-11 center.
Coach Jim Boylen echoed that.
“Moving onto Daniel, there’s an art in the world of kind of knowing who you are, and he has a great feel for who he is as a player,’’ Boylen said of the 38th overall pick. “Again, he adds to our vertical spacing, he adds to our athleticism, our length, our competitiveness, and again, he looks you in the eye when you talk to him, he has a great spirit.’’
While some scouts have tagged Gafford with the Clint Capela comparison – Capela was selected 25th overall in the 2014 draft – there’s no cart before the horse mentality coming out of the Advocate Center. That included Gafford himself.
“I’d say a couple of strengths that I have, rebounding. I go for every rebound,’’ Gafford said. “I try to protect the rim. Those are the main things I would say is my strengths. I’ve got a lot of things I’m good at and a lot of things I have to work on like my jump shot. Basically just being able to maintain the same craft that I have right now. There’s a lot of things I have that still need to be worked on, there’s a lot of things that I can always add to my game at the same time.’’
He’s come to the right place.
Projected starting center Wendell Carter Jr. is undersized, and still has to show he can match up with bigger, stronger paint eaters. Veteran Robin Lopez is an unrestricted free agent, and likely wearing a different jersey by next month, and Lauri Markkanen can play center when the Bulls go small, but is obviously at his best as a stretch-four.
And then of course there’s reserve Cristiano Felicio, and the $16-plus million they still owe him over the next two years, clogging up a roster spot.
If Gafford shows any of the energy and athleticism he showed in his two seasons with Arkansas, well, this is more than a guy that will eat up 10-12 minutes a game. It doesn’t hurt that he has had numerous conversations with fellow Razorback alum – and former Bull – Bobby Portis, and sounded ready to continue Portis’ legacy as a lunch-pail hard worker.
“Just having somebody like that on your side to be able to talk to him … It helps you push yourself a lot more,’’ Gafford said of Portis. “I used to kind of like shape my game after Bobby before I went to Arkansas. I watched one game and I was a Bobby fan instantly, just like that. Just seeing that he gave me somewhat of a shout out on Twitter basically made me feel good because I mean, he’s in the same position that he’s in now and doing that same things he’s doing at the same time too.’’
So what exactly will Gafford become for the Bulls one day?
“I would say I’m the next Daniel Gafford because I’m still working on myself,’’ Gafford said.
Sorry Gar, that will have to do for now.
