Mavericks eyed wild superteam-forming blockbuster before shocking Luka Doncic trade

The Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic trade is already over a month old, and fans still can't get over this move that Nico Harrison decided to make out of nowhere. Seeing him dominate for the Los Angeles Lakers while simultaneously propelling them to the top of the Western Conference is making fans' pain worse, and it doesn't help that Anthony Davis has been out ever since the third quarter of his debut.

While Davis' return is on the horizon and Dallas should have a chance to be highly competitive once they get fully healthy, it doesn't change the fact that fans are always going to go back to the Doncic trade and wonder why the team did it. It was the deepest team they have ever put around Doncic, and less than a year after him leading them to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, they traded him to a team in their conference. Dallas' concerns about his conditioning, off-court habits, leadership, and injuries don't seem to be good enough for the MFFLs, and the reporting that continues to come out weeks later is making everything much worse.

Rather than thanking Doncic for his time and contributions to the organization and moving on, reports continue to come out that are kicking him on the way out the door, and that's exactly what fans don't want to see. Mavs fans wanted the team to build around Doncic for years to come, and according to some recent reporting, they eyed a trade for a third star to form a big three along with Kyrie Irving and Doncic.

A Butler trade could have kept Doncic in Dallas

According to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, the Mavericks eyed a trade for Jimmy Butler with the Miami Heat, and some chatter included P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford. While potentially losing Gafford and or Washington would have been a major blow considering what they mean to the team, adding Butler would have shown that the team was going all in on their core around Doncic, preventing him from being moved for the time being.

There have been plenty of reports linking the Mavericks to Butler, including a report that Dallas was one of his preferred destinations, and now it's clear that the Mavs were at least intrigued at the idea of getting him to Dallas. This doesn't mean that they were overly aggressive in their pursuits, but the thought seemed to have at least crossed their mind.

A deep playoff run with Butler, Doncic, and Irving could have convinced Harrison to abandon his plan of giving up on Doncic at the age of 25, and Mavs fans would have likely been thrilled with a trade for Butler instead of the Anthony Davis trade that they ultimately ended up making.

While the logistics of making a Butler trade work would have been difficult, especially since his contract is so massive, the Mavs could have likely made it work if they tried hard enough. Just like the Miami Heat did, they could have gotten a few other teams involved, and a big three including Irving, Butler, and Doncic would have thrust the Mavericks to the top of the Western Conference.

It also became obvious that Butler was willing to sign an extension with the team that traded for him, as he did with the Golden State Warriors, and the Mavs would have been a much different spot right now if they pursued Butler. It could have stopped the craziest trade in NBA history from going down, and the Mavs may have already caught fire rather than sliding in the standings as they are now.