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. ![]() Yes, the 29-year-old Rudy Gobert can let all his numbers do the talking.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. 7 with his 12.7 offensive rebound percentage 20 with his 2.7 value over replacement player 12 with his defensive box plus/minus of 2.0 3 with his 0.271 win shares per 48 minutes In addition to all of the above league-leading numbers, Gobert sits within the NBA’s top 20 in 14 more areas: It’s hard to find departments these days where three-time All-Star and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert isn’t prospering.ĪLSO READ: Predicting Utah’s seed in the 2022 NBA Playoffs Where else the Utah Jazz giant ranks among the league’s best 6 this season at 6.2 also)Īlthough Gobert is averaging only 15.6 points per game this campaign, just shy of his career-high average of 15.9 points in 2018-19, the fact he stands out in both offensive and defensive rating alone should at least put his name in the All-NBA First Team discussion. 1 with his 6.2 career block percentage (No. 1 with his 36.8 defensive rebound percentage 1 with his 127.0 career offensive rating (No. 1 with his 70.4 effective field goal percentage ![]() ![]() 1 with his 70.8 2-point field goal percentage All this evidence - including a host of lofty marks on both ends of the floor - point to the ninth-year Jazz big man enjoying his best season as a pro. MT Wednesday, Rudy Gobert leads the entire league across a long list of statistical categories. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is pacing the NBA in many more ways than one.Įntering the Utah Jazz’s road matchup against the lowly Houston Rockets at 6 p.m.
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