Rudy Gobert Trade: What Price is Right for Mavs?

The Mavs could really use a defensive anchor like Rudy Gobert, but his contract amount and length makes it harder to acquire him.

It’s no secret — the Dallas Mavericks are trying to acquire a big man upgrade this offseason, whether it’s through the NBA Draft, a trade or free agency.

In theory, Utah Jazz big man Rudy Gobert would be an excellent candidate to fill the void the Mavs have down low. He averaged 15.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 for Utah this season while shooting 71.3 percent from the field.

Gobert is an excellent rebounder, shot-blocker and screen-setter. He’s also one of the most efficient pick-and-roll players in the league. That all sounds pretty great, right? So, what’s the catch?

Look no further than what the Mavs did to the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs — winning in six games with Luka Doncic not playing in the first three. Although Gobert is elite on the defensive end of the court, his effectiveness shrinks when going up against small-ball lineups. Pair that with the fact that he has four years left on his current contract worth a total of $170 million, and you can see why a front office might be hesitant to trade valuable for him.

The Mavs have the contracts to make a trade for Gobert work financially, but the Jazz front office might not like what GM Nico Harrison would be comfortable offering. Utah will likely want a big haul for the talented big man, whereas Dallas likely won’t want to mortgage its future for a limited offensive player being paid superstar money similar to Doncic.

That begs the question: As great of a center as Gobert is, what is a fair trade price for a $42.5 million-per-year man that might not be able to stay on the court in the postseason due to opposing team’s small-ball lineups?

Jazz coach Quin Snyder stepping down this week could be the first major domino to fall for a Jazz rebuild, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to have a fire sale. There’s a chance that Gobert would be a much better fit for a Mavs’ team that has one of the best distributors in the game in Doncic, as well as better defenders across the board than the Jazz. Utah likely knows this, so the price for Gobert won’t be discounted – especially for a rival Western Conference opponent.

If Dallas wants a real shot at landing Gobert, it will likely have to part with some of its core players, as well as future draft compensation, to get a seat at the table. At that point, the risk might not be worth the potential reward to Harrison.

“We need some rim protection. That’s one thing that we don’t have a lot of on our team. I think that’s the easiest thing to say," said Harrison. "Of course, you always want to add more talent, but the thing you have to caution against is we were a really good team. If you look at the parts individually, not a lot stands out, but as a team, together, we were really, really good. We had great culture, we liked each other, we played for each other. All that stuff matters and you don’t want to lose that.”

Whether Gobert-to-Dallas becomes a thing or not this summer, the Mavs still have a lot of options to look at when it comes to upgrading at center. Myles Turner, Richaun Holmes and perhaps even DeAndre Ayton, who shares the same agent as Doncic, could be interesting names to keep an eye on.