There were plenty of eyebrows raised when the Minnesota Timberwolves made the blockbuster trade to acquire Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz. On paper, Gobert fixed two of the major problems for the Timberwolves in rim protection and rebounding, but basketball isn’t played on paper.
As great as Gobert is, there are some big flaws to his game as well, as he still is a non-factor on the offensive end while defensively, teams just space the floor with shooters as we saw the Dallas Mavericks do in the playoffs last season. The Timberwolves would have known all this, of course, but the concerning part is that Gobert’s play, in general, has dipped this season. Timberwolves insider Jon Krawczynski says the team has to ask the question if Gobert is now a shadow of the defensive juggernaut that he was in Utah.
via The Athletic:
“After watching Gobert get outplayed by a rookie center on a two-way contract in a loss to the severely short-handed Miami Heat on Monday night, the Timberwolves have to ask themselves if the Gobert they got in the trade with the Jazz is a shadow of the player who was such a force in Utah for so many years, or just one that needs a little more time to find his way.”
“Last season Gobert averaged 15.6 points, a league-leading 14.7 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and shot a league-leading 71.3 percent from the field to make his third straight All-Star game. His numbers so far this season are down sharply across the board — 14.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 66.2 field goal percentage and, most troubling of all, just 1.2 blocks per game, his lowest number since he played sparingly as a rookie in 2013-14. It just isn’t the same guy yet.”
Gobert failed to have much of an impact against the short-handed Miami Heat, who were without Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. It got so bad, that head coach Chris Finch benched him for the final 5 minutes of the game, which is a terrible look. They just gave up so much draft capital to get him and unless we see some big improvements as the season goes on, this will be looked at as a truly terrible trade. While there are plenty of question marks regarding Gobert the player, there’s no doubt that he is a fine human being.
Rudy Gobert’s Great Gesture Toward Timberwolves Employees
Gobert was someone who was very well-liked within the organization during his time with the Jazz for the kind of person that he was. That has continued here as well as he gifted $50 and a signed card to more than 450 team employees. He also gifted all the ball boys and girls a Nintendo Switch with a game and has become quite the popular figure in the building.
While all this is definitely great, Gobert will ultimately be judged based on what he does on the court and he knows that too. He gets paid the big bucks to elevate the team to another level and so far, he hasn’t managed to do that. There is hope that things will change, but for now, all of his critics would feel vindicated.
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