Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves appear to be doing better right now after a tumultuous start to the season, although they are once again under the .500 mark. This team gave up a lot to land the Frenchman in a blockbuster deal with Utah Jazz, and this move isn’t paying off so far.
After the trade was completed, many within the organization thought the Timberwolves would be a top team this season, with Karl-Anthony Towns even saying that Gobert’s addition made this season ‘championship or bust’ for the T-Wolves. Anthony Edwards agreed with those comments, showing huge confidence in this team.
Nevertheless, almost two months into the season, Minnesota has mightily struggled to find its rhythm, and everybody is blaming Gobert for that. Even though he’s not the one that asked to be traded to the Timberwolves, many have criticized this move, even calling it the worst in NBA history.
Rudy Gobert Trade To Minnesota Has Been Labeled As Terrible
ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently discussed this situation, admitting that nobody around the league thinks the Timberwolves made a good move by bringing in Rudy. Talking with Kirk Goldsberry on his podcast, Lowe revealed that not even a single person backed this move (via Redditor “slugkid“).
Kirk Goldsberry: I was not a happy person with that trade for Minnesota. And I didn’t expect them to be very good, to be honest. The underrated thing about that trade—the assets deserved the headline… but some of the human beings that left Minnesota, they’re missing too. And the offense just isn’t good enough right now. And they’re losing the minutes with Gobert. You pay that much for a guy, and he comes in, and you’re a negative team when he’s on the floor right now.
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Zach Lowe: Almost every trade that is divisive or unpopular—you can find some people around the league who will be like, “I kinda see what they were going for; I maybe woulda made that deal!”
The Sabonis-Halliburton one is a good example: I thought people were way too critical; I didn’t like that trade for Sacramento; I thought it was a win for Indiana. I also thought people were being unfair in how much they railed against the Kings. You could find people were like, No, I think it’s Sabonis is really good! It’ll work there.”
This one—I don’t think I found anyone who was like, “Here’s a hot take for ya, Zach! That’s actually a good trade for Minnesota.” I don’t think I found anyone around the league who liked that trade for them.
KG: That’s correct. If you woulda said two less draft picks, it would have still garnered a lot skepticism. And they gave up soooo many.
Gobert has been criticized since he was on the Utah Jazz, but at least that team performed well in the regular season. Now, he’s part of a team that looks lost on the court, with their players trying to do their own thing and not play like they did last season.
With the great level in the West and the bad performances from the T-Wolves, it’s fair to say that this season is already a bust for them.
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