Who Won the Rudy Gobert Trade? Utah Jazz or Minnesota Timberwolves?

Posted on by Jack Marks

The Jazz are engaged in a lot of activity lately. Rudy Gobert, an All-Star center for Utah, was dealt to the Timberwolves on Friday. Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, and four first-round selections will be sent to the Jazz in return. According to reports, Utah will receive unprotected first-round picks in 2023, 25 and 27, a selection exchange in 26, and a top-four protected pick in 29.

The Rudy Gobert era in Utah saw great success throughout the regular season, but it was often put to an end in the postseason in the same manner. A change seemed imminent as the locker room relationship for the Utah Jazz deteriorated further.

Rudy Gobert

After one of its most successful seasons in 18 years, Minnesota came to the conclusion that Karl-Anthony Towns needed to be paired with a defensive big man to maximize his effect. Consequently, we now have a huge trade.

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Grading the Rudy Gobert trade

Gobert, 30, has won defensive player of the year three times. For the Jazz past season, he had averages of 15.6 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. He is committed until 2025 on a maximum agreement, with a player option for 26. For the Wolves, this is a huge risk for a variety of reasons.

Rudy Gobert

You are looking at absurd wage figures for the Wolves going ahead, first and foremost. Thursday night, Towns recently reached an agreement on a four-year, $214 million deal. If Gobert exercises his $46.6 million player option in 2025–2026, he will be responsible for paying about $170 million over the next four seasons. It’s difficult to claim that this transaction was detrimental to the Wolves.

It was obvious that Gobert and Donovan Mitchell had exhausted their potential as a great duo. Change in Utah was unavoidable after a few playoffs runs that raised questions about both players’ usefulness in crucial situations. Since Gobert and Donovan Mitchell didn’t get along, ownership has decided to make Mitchell the team’s marketable star (at least for the time being).

In addition to three role players who could be easily maintained for continued competition or traded for more assets, the Jazz have obtained five first-round selections, a pick exchange, and a first-round selection (Kessler) from the 2022 draft with this deal and the Royce O’Neale trade to Brooklyn. So, the clear winner of the trade appears to be Utah Jazz.

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