The Timberwolves need much more from center Rudy Gobert, who hasn’t been the player they thought they were trading for, according Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
As Krawczynski writes, the Wolves lost a winnable game on Monday when Miami was down its two best players in forward Jimmy Butler and center Bam Adebayo. Gobert was outplayed by undrafted two-way Heat rookie Orlando Robinson, which is inexcusable for a player of his stature.
Gobert’s numbers are down across the board, and he doesn’t appear to be as mobile or changing shots at the rim like he did while winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards with the Jazz. Krawczynski points out that perhaps the most concerning statistic is that Gobert’s blocked shots have plummeted down to 1.2 per game — the lowest since his rookie year in 2023/14, when he averaged fewer than 10 minutes per contest.
There’s still time to turn things around, and injuries to key rotation players haven’t helped. But to this point, the blockbuster trade is looking like a disaster for the Wolves, per Krawczynski.
For what it’s worth, Krawczynski said (via Twitter) that Gobert played “great” in Wednesday’s one-point loss to the Pelicans, which dropped the Wolves’ record to 16-19.
Here’s more out of Minnesota:
- In a Q&A with Tania Ganguli of The New York Times (subscriber link), Gobert says he isn’t worried about being under a microscope as he adjusts to a new team. “It’s not hard for me. I want to win, I’m a competitor, so it’s hard to lose. But at the same time, I’m able to understand the bigger picture and to understand that you got to go through pain to grow. I’ve said every time people ask me, it’s going to be some adversity. And when adversity hits, obviously everybody will have something to say. People are always going to have opinions,” he said.
- Prior to Wednesday’s game, head coach Chris Finch told reporters, including Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link), that forward Kyle Anderson is nearing a return. The Wolves hope to have him back for Friday’s game in Milwaukee. The veteran play-maker has been dealing with a non-COVID illness and back spasms.
- Finch also provided injury updates on point guard Jordan McLaughlin (left calf strain) and forward Taurean Prince (right shoulder subluxation), two key role players for the Wolves. As Hine relays (via Twitter), Finch said McLaughlin will be reevaluated in about a week, while Prince has been doing on-court work, but there’s still no timetable for his return. McLaughlin has now missed 10 straight games with his calf injury. Prince has been out since November 25, missing 17 consecutive games.
“who hasn’t been the player they thought they were trading for”
Whose fault is that? Gobert has never been all that.
35 games into the season and still talking about adjusting to a new team lol.. I’m not saying it should be overnight but sheesh, it’s looking ugly .. especially seeing the Jazz overachieving & the Cavs doing great as well after picking up D Mitch
“Gobert’s numbers are down across the board”
They’re not any more down that KAT’s:
Career – 24.5 PER, .527/.393, 23.1 ppg, 11.8 rpg
2022-23 – 19.6 PER, .505/.325, 20.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg
You can make an argument that Gobert’s presence cut into Kat’s numbers since they were both healthy while Kat was playing albeit in a small sample size. However, Kat’s been hurt awhile now and Gobert has still been a turd, so what’s his excuse?
Kat cannot reajust his position on the floor cause he’s not a all arounder talent and Rudy has always been a C so it’s a done deal.
Wolves went from no defense to no shooting. Russell is not a good fit, McDaniels is not a starter, and Gobert is redundant. Russell off the bench like Lou Williams is a good role for him. Or get a more dynamic reserve point guard. Gotta trade Gobert or KAT to fix this roster for the Edwards timeline. Not KAT’s
DLo is THE problem is Minnesota…
Hence having McLaughlin out for so long has hurt them… They are forced to rely on their 3rd year 2 guard to playmake for others…
Loss of Vanderbilt also, who surprisingly is proving to be more versatile & dynamic in team basketball than Gobert. And was a better fit next to KAT. Vanderbilt was also young, improving, and on Edwards timeline. Russell is expiring, and I wouldn’t mind him on less money, in a different role. Could be good going into next season coming off the bench? I would trade him if the right offer came through.
What a massive catastrophe this has turned out to be.
BUT I think people are panicking or criticizing too early. You got rid of three or four or five or seven guys whatever it was, and you brought in a 7-9 defensive all-time great.
The Wolves sucked on defense so I don’t blame them for making this move. You keep your big three, your core, plus a couple great Reserves and you add the big guy. Nothing wrong with that move. Make it work.., it’s up to the coaches to make it happen, make it fit.
The Wolves would have been continual play-in seed, eight seed, type of team the way they were constructed last year.
Bird’s-eye view the wolves made a horrendous trade. But looking at a deep dive I don’t blame them for doing it, I don’t blame them for giving up what they did (well outside of the draft picks,) and the guys behind the scenes need to figure out how to make it work.
Don’t turn guys into something they’re not like Gobert an offensive player. You’re the Timberwolves, how else are you going to get stars? Free agents aren’t coming, you have to make a blockbuster trade. So here we are, get to work.
Except Rudy’s numbers ARENT down across the board when compared to his career stats. Aside from bpg, every number is a essentially a mirror image.
I just don’t get how anyone with a pair of eyes could see Rudy as anything more than an effective team defense anchor. Other than that, he has terrible hands and negligible skill on the offensive end. He’s not particularly physically coordinated. Even at his peak players were regularly having career nights against him.
It appears he struggles with teammates too, in part, maybe due to being ‘non-American’.
Fix this trade. You won’t get picks but Gobert for John Collins and Clint Capela to a 3rd team for whatever you can get.
I dont see why the Hawks do that…
The best friends ball is the route cause here…
DLo hasn’t played like a PG and he doesn’t have to because he’s KATs best friend… He can do what he wants… All the while KAT was too busy pouting to learn how to play the 4 exclusively instead of partially when next to Vanderbilt, Dieng or even KG…
The whole team dynamic is down the toilet because those 2 aren’t held accountable…
They need a pass 1st type of PG maybe Patty Mills or TJ McConnell can get this big duo works
Gobert and Charlotte were made for each other.
TWolves should trade Rudy. While he still has value. They can get depth and a better mix of players. Plus picks. I do it
Kat has $220M garanteed & Rudy $123M
What about Fournier Randle for Rudy?