May 16, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Rudy Gobert is interviewed during the NBA Draft combine at Harrison Street Athletics Facility. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

The French 7’2” center is working out with Phoenix on Wednesday, according to a report from ArizonaSports.com. @Kris_Habbas reported the workout through Twitter on Friday.

Draftexpress.com has him number eleventh on their board. Gobert has a 7’8.5” wingspan, which is the longest ever recorded in the site’s history. He is apparently very raw offensively, but would seem to fit perfectly into the Suns’ rebuilding plan.

If the Suns are able to flip Gortat for picks this off-season, then Gobert would make a perfect pick, especially if Victor Oladipo and Otto Porter are off the board before Phoenix’s number five pick. This would enable the Suns to get even further under the salary cap, get younger at a key position, and stockpile more picks in a draft next year bursting with talent. Additionally, this would almost guarantee a bad record and the possibility of getting a franchise-altering superstar at the top of the 2014 NBA draft.

DraftExpress.com explains that Gobert isn’t as athletic as DeAndre Jordan or JaVale McGee, but that he has great hands and is a decent free throw shooter, which are both aspects of the game a big man like Gobert needs to have in the NBA.

The profile illustrates the dominance of Gobert on the defensive end with the statistic that he ranked first in his French league in blocks per 40 minutes and per game.

If Oladipo and Porter are both gone by the time the fifth pick comes around on June 27^th, I’d have no problem with Phoenix going for Gobert, especially if they think they have the leverage to flip Gortat for more than one decent pick next year.

Feb 20, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Phoenix Suns center Marcin Gortat (4) shoots the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Season Averages: MIN: 30.8|FG%: .521 |3P%: .000|FT%: .652 |REB: 8.5|AST: 1.2|BLK: 1.6|STL 0.7|PTS: 11.1

Eric’s Comments:

Gortat missed the final 20 games on the Suns schedule, which definitely hurt his value on the trade market, which is where he needs to be this off-season. This is not because he is not a serviceable center in the NBA, but because Phoenix is “beginning” a rebuild and a 29-year-old center doesn’t really fit into that plan. Gortat needs to work on finishing better around the rim, but this year had worked on his jumper and was having a pretty good season before going down with the foot injury.

The ideal situation for the Suns with Gortat is him: getting totally healthy and better talent-wise with some off-season work. Both would up his trade value, which is at its lowest point since he was in Orlando backing-up Dwight Howard. With a hyped Gortat and some other pieces, Phoenix may be able to get some draft picks for next year (VALUABLE!) and some young players to develop, as they start to rebuild.

Grade: B

Matt’s Comments:

Gortat had a solid season for the Suns but if his play this season revealed anything about him it was that he’s not much of a scoring threat without a great passing point guard. Gortat’s scoring, free throw numbers, and field goal percentage all took a hit in the absence of Steve Nash.

Gortat seemed awfully uneasy in Phoenix this season. Earlier the season he had a few controversial interviews done in Polish, and for the most part during those interviews he pretty much pointed the finger at everyone but himself. That doesn’t say much about Gortat’s character regardless of whether or not his teammates and the coaches deserved the blame.

All in all, the Suns were better with Gortat this season than without given the Suns went 3-18 in Gortat’s absence.

Grade: C+