President of basketball operations Tim Connelly admits the Rudy Gobert trade hasn’t been an immediate success for the Timberwolves, but he never expected it to be, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Connelly explains that Minnesota made the deal with Utah with the understanding that it would take time to adjust to a unique player like Gobert.
“We didn’t have expectations it was initially going to hit the ground running. We kind of expected a lot of growing pains there,” Connelly said. “So I think, individually, Rudy’s been fantastic. When we’re fully healthy, we’ve got to figure out how to most effectively employ all those guys. It’s a win-loss league. If we had three or four more wins right now, it would be an emphatic positive.”
Instead, the Wolves are in 11th place in the West at 11-12 and have rarely looked like the energetic team that raised expectations in last season’s playoffs. Gobert is averaging 11.2 PPG, his lowest scoring numbers in seven years, and his rebounding is down to 11.4 per game after he led the league last season at 14.7. Most alarming is that he’s averaging just 1.3 blocks per night, about half of what he did in his best seasons in Utah, after being brought to Minnesota as a rim protector.
Connelly believes the statistical decline has a lot to do with getting used to a new set of teammates, and he expressed confidence that Gobert will eventually bounce back. He also stressed that the team’s perimeter players have to do a better job of clogging the lane and not relying so much on Gobert.
“There’s not a rim protector in the world who can just face live-ball dribbles all game,” Connelly said. “It’s not going to work. We have had moments of that where, ‘Hey Rudy’s back there so I can play olé defense.’”
Connelly paid a high price to acquire Gobert, so he understands why fans are impatient. The Wolves parted with three players who were instrumental to last season’s success — Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley — along with a collection of draft picks that stretch all the way to 2029.
One of the issues raised by those who questioned the trade was how Gobert would fit alongside Karl-Anthony Towns and whether having two big men on the court at the same time could be effective in today’s NBA. Krawczynski notes that Towns was adapting to Gobert as well as anyone before being sidelined with a calf strain. Towns has more assists to Gobert than anybody else on the team does, and his enthusiasm for making the pairing work is one reason that Connelly remains optimistic.
“We’re not going to bury our head in the sand and pretend it’s been flawless,” Connelly said. “We never expected that. When we made the trade, it wasn’t done without a lot of conversation, a lot of watching of tape.”
What does getting used to teammates have to do with Gobert’s shot-blocking production being cut in half?
All those assets traded for a rim-protector???
An absolutely horrific trade!
Tim Connelly??? 1-and-done???
I can see it affecting a little bit, but not cutting it in half. I can imagine that in Utah he probably knew when or where he’d get help coming in from another defender, so he had a better idea of where to position.
If it went from like 2.5 blocks a game to like 2.0, I could see that. But yeah, cutting it in half is a little extreme. I’m a Cavs fan so I’m thrilled with the Utah player they got instead lol
Walker Kessler blocked 5 shots last night for Utah.
Shouldn’t be growing pains.. it either works or it doesn’t. Look at the Cavs
Damn straight
Growing pains are absolutely fair. But this seems to be more than that. And Gobert ain’t getting any younger. Wolves fans should be very nervous.
Growing pains are real but the dude is done growing, his game isn’t growing any and the game is. He is more of a liability then an asset. Everyone saw it in the playoffs when he was benched. Wolves gm must’ve not watched haha
Connelly should have waited a year to see what he truly needed. Tape and unity are different. The Cavs will win before the wolves. Ainge might get a lottery pick from them at this rate.
Gobert was overpaid as it was at least to some degree. You knew what he was, an excellent defender with limited offensive ability. If he was like 27, it would’ve made sense, but he was 30 going into this season. Big men typically don’t age well. They gave up a haul that was like he was a top 10 player in the league. It seems like they did something just to do something.
And it already looks like he’s declined slightly, which does not bode well for the future.
No generational talent No Championship. You can accumulate as many B level players you want you’re still not winning a Championship.
MN fans will always be pessimistic, but watching most of the games this season gobert has only really been a problem offensively in the paint early on and I think that’s getting worked out. Ant doesn’t need to force the ball through 3 defenders when he can toss it up to gobert for a sure thing.
ANT has had awful shot selection through the year.”, and so have others. It seems like the “extra pass” happens more often when it’s not needed and when it’s desperately needed it doesn’t happen.
A real problem was their first game together as a team happened the last preseason game. You have star talent but need to adjust and they waited to do it in season. Not the best decision to go trial by fire when they could have given them more time before it counted.
It’s so much more a team chemistry sport than any other. To turn things around they need to be spending every spare minute on and off the court together working out the good and bad.
I agree with Tim, give it time. Teammates need to learn to play with Rudy as much as Rudy needs to learn his teammates. Time will only make them better.
Walker Kessler, the 1st round pick included in the Gobert trade, blocked 5 shots for Utah last night.
He may be pretty damned good – but it’s easier to block shots when players aren’t afraid to challenge you at the rim. Rudy would get more blocks if he didn’t deter so many shots from even being taken
Trade KAT
Danny fleeced another team. It’s what he does. Everyone on here knew this trade was trash. Now they can’t even move DLo to improve the roster bc they have no assets to attach. They would have to take back a bad contract which defeats the purpose.
What’s the time window on this team? 2 years, 3 years?
I wouldn’t think a shot blocking defense first guy who rebounds, is athletic and can finish at the rim and doesn’t demand the ball would have a hard time fitting in anywhere.
Terry Stotts to the rescue. The Wolves do not know how to shrink a game down and get themselves in a position to the point that Rudy defensive assit can help close out games they way they did in Utah.
This is an all on the run team that tries to leverage its strength and speed to win games.
This has resulted in Rudy not being on the court at key times.
I told you it wouldn’t work. KAT is not a versatile 4 and can’t guard one. Insane to invest all your cap in the same position. They are both starting CENTERS. I’ve been saying it for yrs a guy like Noel. Is a much better fit with KAT. A guy like Claxton from Nets.
Kat is a joke defensively. He needs to shoot more. Gobert needs to man up. Russel needs to step up too.