This NBA offseason has had its fair share of surprises and one of the big ones was Rudy Gobert heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster trade. The Jazz had reportedly been shopping the 3-time Defensive Player of the Year behind the scenes and tried to move him to Toronto before agreeing on terms with the Timberwolves.
As the news broke, NBA fans were quick to point out some comments that Anthony Edwards had made about his new teammate back in December last year. Edwards threw some major shade at Gobert by saying that Kristaps Porzingis was the best rim protector in the league and that Rudy puts no fear in his heart. Edwards finally responded to the news of Gobert joining the team and he seemed excited as he shared a story of the Frenchman with his 3 DPOY awards.
The two will probably have a laugh about those comments when they do end up meeting in training camp. Gobert could be a great addition, as he provides the Timberwolves with some terrific interior defense which they struggled with previously and he is also an elite rebounder. The question, of course, is whether their approach of going with the Twin Towers will work out as he will be paired with Karl-Anthony Towns.
Teams these days are going smaller and smaller so going against the grain brings its risks. We saw the Jazz struggle with Gobert having to guard on the perimeter as teams spaced the floor with shooters and the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs did just that. Now you have Gobert and Towns who is not the greatest of defenders anyway, having to split time outside the paint, which could end up being problematic. Maybe Minnesota believes that the positives of having two bigs will outweigh the negatives and we’ll see how that goes.
