Apparently, the Dallas Mavericks had a real shot at landing Kyle Lowry in free agency. It's just that he really wanted to play with his good friend in Miami Heat superstar Jimmy Butler.

According to Barry Jackson of Miami Herald, the Mavs were really close to pairing Lowry with Luka Doncic. The former Toronto Raptors playmaker , however, ended up signing a three-year, $85 million deal with the Heat.

We’re told Dallas finished second behind the Heat for Lowry; he was intrigued by the Mavericks, who were willing to meet his price tag, but he preferred playing with Butler in Miami.

While there's really no use knowing who were the runner-ups in a free agency pursuit, this latest development goes to show what the Mavs' real focus was heading into free agency. They had already been linked to Kyle Lowry even before the free agency period started, and the Josh Richardson trade they did with the Boston Celtics was deemed to be a salary cap-clearing move to make make room for the veteran guard.

Unfortunately, the Mavs missed on their big fish once again and had to settle for the role players they got–which seemed to be the common theme for the past few years now.

The Mavs re-signed Tim Hardaway Jr. and acquired Reggie Bullock and Sterling Brown to bolster their wing. Nonetheless, Luka Doncic remains without a backcourt partner who can reliably handle the playmaking duties alongside him, something that Lowry could have done for him.