Rudy Gobert is in the 99th percentile on Defensive Plus-Minus. Scanning stat lines and watching Twitter highlights of someone scoring on him isn’t painting the real picture of who he is as a defender. Gobert is averaging 13.5 rebounds a game, while also getting 3.1 blocks a game and altering dozens of shots around the rim every night.Īll you Gobert-haters out there can roll your eyes – the simple fact is you just have not been watching the game. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year has put together a career season thus far and frankly should be getting at least some buzz for MVP. Rudy Gobert is the best defender in the world, and when you look in other numbers it’s not even close. Vanderbilt, 23, has shown promise as a rotation player, and Bolmaro and Kessler are young first-round picks.īeasley wished the Wolves well in a tweet following news of the trade before promising to help take the Jazz to the playoffs.NBA Utah Jazz Rudy Gobert (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) NBA DPOY Power Rankings, No. Gobert has earned a reputation as one of the premier rim protectors in NBA history, joining Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace and Dwight Howard as the only players to win at least three Defensive Player of the Year awards.īeasley and Beverley, the two most accomplished players heading to Utah in the deal, represent $28.5 million in expiring contracts, although Beasley has a $16.5 million team option for 2023-24. Rim protection has been Minnesota's most glaring weakness, as the Timberwolves allowed opponents to shoot 66.9% at the basket last season, ranking 25th in the NBA, according to ESPN Stats & Information. It was only the second playoff appearance of Towns' seven-year career, and Minnesota has yet to advance past the first round during his tenure. 1 pick Anthony Edwards, went 46-36 last season and lost to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who was recently hired away from the Denver Nuggets after building that franchise into a perennial playoff team, has been determined to acquire a rim-protecting center to play next to Towns. Utah traded starting forward Royce O'Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a 2023 first-round pick Thursday, a move that signaled the Jazz could be entering a rebuild. The Jazz have not advanced past the conference semifinals in this era, and there had been tension between Gobert and Mitchell over the past few years, putting the Ainge-led front office in the position of making major changes this summer.Ĭoach Quin Snyder resigned last month, and the Jazz conducted an extensive search before hiring 34-year-old Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy as Snyder's replacement. Gobert averaged 15.6 points, a league-leading 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 2021-22, when a tumultuous Jazz season ended with a first-round exit at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Towns agreed to a four-year, $224 million supermax extension at midnight Friday, the first moment he was eligible, and has a total commitment of $295 million over six years. Gobert is entering the second season of a five-year, $205 million contract. "Utah and its community will always have a special place in my heart. "I've grown as a man and as a player before your very eyes and I'm thankful every single moment," Gobert wrote. He thanked Utah in a tweet, saying he "felt embraced and supported since day one." The 7-foot Frenchman is one of the most decorated players in Jazz history, with three Defensive Player of the Year awards, three All-Star appearances, four All-NBA selections and six first-team All-Defensive selections. 27 pick in 2013 into a perennial All-Star who has been a franchise cornerstone for a team that has made six consecutive playoff appearances. Gobert, 30, has spent his entire nine-year career in Utah, developing from a lanky project who was drafted with the No. The Jazz have now gathered a total of six first-round picks in a 24-hour span and plan to retool the roster around Donovan Mitchell, Utah's 25-year-old All-Star guard. Utah will acquire unprotected picks in 2023, 20 and a top-five-protected pick in 2029, sources said, in Danny Ainge's first franchise-altering deal since taking over as the Jazz's CEO midseason. 22 pick Walker Kessler and four first-round picks to the Jazz, sources said. The Timberwolves will send Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, No. The Utah Jazz agreed to trade center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster deal that will pair him with fellow All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
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