Boston Celtics Tony Gaffney And Oliver Lafayette Look To Keep Their NBA Dreams Alive
[picappgallerysingle id="3883352"]Tony Gaffney and Oliver Lafayette a year ago were praying to find a road to the NBA. Lafayette was playing in the D league after a solid college career at the University of Houston. Despite showing solid defensive skills and a decent ability to score, many NBA GMs thought he was too small to be a two guard and not the right skill set for a point guard in the NBA. However, Lafayette was given an opportunity first for the Erie BayHawks and Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA D-League. Lafayette would improve his game greatly and make NBA type adjustments. The results were he went from scoring thirteen points a game to almost 18 points a game. Ainge would be watching a different player and saw Lafayette light it up. Boston needed players after the Eddie House for Nate Robinson trade that included Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens. The result was Lafayette was signed to an NBA contract for the rest of the year. Not bad going to the NBA Finals after being in the D- League with no team.
The Mass native that is Gaffney began the year in of all places LA. After being a star defensive player in college for U Mass, he still went undrafted as teams did not like anything about his offensive game. LA invited him to camp and he was the last player cut during training camp. He then went to of all places Israel to play. After a foot injury, he returned. Danny liked his defensive game in college and again needed wing players if for nothing else practice. The team had an out of position Tony Allen and Marquis Daniels, and of course Paul Pierce playing small forward. Gaffney was defensive minded and a hard worker. The team needed a body and Gaffney was Ainge’s man.
Ainge brought these men in not just because he needed bodies, but because he liked something in their games. It could be because both are hungry and work very hard. It could be that both are solid defensive players that take that end of the floor seriously since college. We forget that to even play college basketball anywhere, a player must be very talented. To make a D-League roster, a player must be even more talented. No matter the answer, it appears right now that Gaffney and Lafayette have a shot at both contracts and at least a date in Maine playing as Celtics property in the D League. This may be a road to the NBA for both of them. Both have an uphill battle, but in the NBA anything can happen. Maybe Gaffney and Lafayette should not be forgotten just yet.
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