Mavericks explored wild move for controversial big man before trading Luka Doncic

The first big piece of the Dallas Mavericks' offseason is officially one week away, as the NBA Draft Lottery is next Monday in Chicago. Dallas has the 11th-best odds to land the first overall pick in the draft, and their fate for the first offseason in the post-Luka Doncic era will be determined before we know it.

Things have not gone according to plan without Doncic so far in Dallas, as both Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving suffered injuries that ultimately derailed their seasons, but Doncic's start to his Los Angeles Lakers career wasn't excellent either.

Individually, Doncic was excellent offensively, as he averaged 30.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 1.0 steals per game in Los Angeles' playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but his defense and conditioning once again were concerns. JJ Redick even called out that some of the Lakers need to get into better shape, which seemed like a message to Doncic, and the end of this series between Doncic and Los Angeles against Minnesota also uncovered an old Mavericks rumor that happened a while before Dallas moved Doncic.

Mavericks once wanted to pair with Rudy Gobert with Luka Doncic

One of the biggest problems of Doncic's early days in Dallas was their lack of a solid center to play next to him, as the Mavs constantly struggled with rebounding, rim protection, and size, but all of that changed when they drafted Dereck Lively II. He gave the Mavericks everything they needed at the five position, but Lively II wasn't always going to be Dallas' center of the future.

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks were interested in trading for Rudy Gobert when he was a member of the Utah Jazz, and the interest was reportedly mutual.

"When it was pretty obvious that he wanted to spend his whole career in Utah, but when it was pretty obvious that might not be the way that thing was going that last year, Dallas was at the top of his kind of silent list of preferred destinations," MacMahon said about Gobert. "And there was a time when Mark Cuban and Nico Harrison were both very interested in that idea."

MacMahon went on to talk about how Jason Kidd wasn't super excited at the idea of adding Gobert to his squad, and rather than trading for Gobert (with a trade package that could have outbid the Timberwolves), Dallas ended up signing JaVale McGee. This happened in the summer after the Mavs had just knocked out the Jazz in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, and the Timberwolves ultimately ended up sending Utah a massive trade package to get him to Minnesota.

The Mavericks have to be thrilled that they didn't trade for Gobert, as he was in the middle of a five-year, $205 million deal, and Dallas ended up finding two great options a few years later in Lively II and Daniel Gafford. The Mavericks likely wouldn't have been able to make a run to the NBA Finals last season if Gobert was on their roster, as they would have had to give up tons of assets to get him to Dallas, and his fit next to Doncic would have been a bit questionable.

While Gobert would have been able to help Dallas' rebounding and rim protection significantly, he wouldn't have been the type of offensive player Doncic needs next to him. Doncic needs an elite rim roller to play next to him, and that is not necesssarily Gobert's cup of tea.

Gobert's overall game and impact have always been controversial among fans, as they always seem to be debating how good he actually is and if he is a championship player, and the Mavs would have been in an even bigger hole than they are now if they had traded for him.