The Utah Jazz moved Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves almost three years ago, and that's had its own ramifications, but had they traded him to the Dallas Mavericks instead back then, it would have changed a lot. Apparently, that was a strong possiblity back then.
ESPN's Tim MacMahon revealed on "The Hoop Collective" that the Mavericks had expressed interest in Gobert shortly after eliminating the Jazz in the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
"It was pretty obvious that [Gobert] wanted to spend his whole career in Utah, but when it was pretty obvious that might not be the way that things were going that last year, Dallas was at the top of his kind of silent list of preferred destinations," MacMahon said. "And there was a time where Mark Cuban and Nico Harrison were both very interested in that idea.”
Despite interest from their ownership and the front office, MacMahon revealed who was against it, and what they opted to do instead.
"The Mavericks knocked the Jazz out of the playoffs that year. Jason Kidd was not so excited about the idea of having Rudy Gobert," McMahon continued. "They couldn’t have outbid the Timberwolves anyway, but then the Mavericks came around on this: ‘Yeah, we’ll get half the production on 20% of the salary.’ And they gave JaVale McGee 20% of the salary."
McGee was a disaster in Dallas. He only played one year in Dallas and played so badly that they opted to waive-and-stretch him, and they'll be paying him until 2028 to not play for them. It's fair to say that Gobert would have been better for them.
Dallas made up for it and then some, as they made the NBA Finals two years later. However, the reason why subject is so prevalent is because, had the Jazz gone through with acquiring Gobert, not only would that have changed their trajectory, but it would have changed the NBA's entire landscape.
Gobert in Dallas likely meant no Luka Doncic trade
The Timberwolves have reaped the rewards from the Gobert trade for the past two years. They had a bit of a stutter step when Gobert first started them, but since then, they have thrived. It led to Gobert himself playing a huge role in the Timberwolves' flat-out embarrassing the Lakers.
To think that that could have been the Mavericks had they put their reservations about Gobert aside is one thing. Knowing that if they had acquired Gobert, that also likely meant they weren't going to trade Luka Doncic down the line like they did a few months ago, which is still unbelievable that Dallas pulled the trigger on that, is another.
The Mavericks probably keep those two for the long haul, but even if they decide to send Doncic anyway, they certainly wouldn't trade him for Anthony Davis with Gobert doing a lot of what Davis can do on the defensive side.
There's no telling how good Gobert and Doncic would have been together, but having such a juggernaut on one on side antoeht juggernaut on the other side of the court could have changed a lot for Dallas. Luka has shown how good he is at utilizing lob threats, so Gobert would have had a field day receiving what Doncic dished.
This also would have changed some stuff around for the Jazz. Remember that the Timberwovles gave them Walker Kessler in the Gobert trade. Dallas didn't really have any young players who could have given the same production that Kessler has for the past three years, warts and all.
It is impressive that one trade that could have been would have caused such a major ripple effect throughout the entire NBA. It's not the Jazz's fault the Mavericks made a stupid choice not getting Gobert when they had the chance, nor is it their fault that the Mavericks made another stupid choice trading a franchise player away in his mid-20s.
But if the Jazz had made this deal, that could have swung multiple championships in the past, the present, and the future.