The Rudy Gobert trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves went down a couple of weeks back, but it remains one of the biggest talking points among NBA circles. The Jazz had been shopping the big man and they found a trade partner in the Timberwolves, who gave up a massive haul of draft picks to go with some role players in return.
That haul of picks they got seems to have caused some major issues around the league, with teams demanding similar or better returns for their stars in the aftermath. It has apparently led to the Nets’ asking price for Kevin Durant going up even further and league personnel are still pissed at how Danny Ainge managed to get that much in return for the Frenchman, which has set the new standard for a trade involving star players.
Via Hoop Collective (at the 35:50 mark):
“What he got for Gobert, everybody in the league is bitching about like, ‘Can you believe it? How could they possibly do that?’ I’ve talked to 10 different people who’ve b*tched to me about that trade.”
“Four firsts (first-round picks) and they offloaded $140 million in salary, so now Danny Ainge has moved the game again.”
Ainge first did this back in the day with the trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets, which set what became the bar for stars being traded, which was unprotected picks and pick swaps. That helped the Celtics eventually land Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who led the team to the Finals this past season.
He’ll be hoping that this Gobert trade helps the Jazz reach similar heights in the future but we doubt the Timberwolves will implode as the Nets did in the mid-2010s. Alex Caruso for one, compared the Timberwolves landing Gobert with the Lakers trading for Anthony Davis and claimed it is a great fit.
