Sources: Utah Jazz trading star: center Rudy Gobert to Minnesota Timberwolves for four first-round picks |Quora Hub
According to latest News’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Utah Jazz agreed to trade centre Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster deal that would match him alongside fellow All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns.
According to reports, the Timberwolves will send the Jazz Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Jarrett Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, No. 22 selection Walker Kessler, and four first-round picks. According to insiders, Utah will receive unprotected selections in 2023, 2025, and 2027, as well as a top-five protected pick in 2029, in Danny Ainge’s first franchise-altering transaction since taking over as Jazz CEO midseason.
The Jazz have already acquired six first-round selections in a 24-hour period and want to restructure the roster around Donovan Mitchell, Utah’s 25-year-old All-Star guard.
Gobert, 30, has spent his entire nine-year career in Utah, growing from a lanky project taken with the No. 27 selection into a perennial All-Star and franchise cornerstone for a team that has made six straight playoff trips. The 7-foot Frenchman is one of jazz’s most accomplished musicians.
With three Defensive Player of the Year titles, three All-Star appearances, four All-NBA picks, and six first-team All-Defensive selections, he has a long list of accomplishments.
Gobert is in the second year of a five-year, $205 million deal. Towns agreed to a four-year, $224 million supermax deal at midnight on Friday, the first time he became eligible, for a total commitment of $295 million over six years.
Last season, Gobert averaged 15.6 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game for the Jazz, who were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz have not made it past the conference semifinals in this era, and there had been tension between Gobert and Mitchell in recent years, putting the Ainge-led front office in a position to make significant changes this summer.
Quin Snyder resigned as head coach last month, and the Jazz conducted a thorough search before appointing 34-year-old Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy as Snyder’s replacement. On Thursday, Utah dealt starting forward Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a 2023 first-round selection, signalling that the Jazz may be in the midst of a rebuild.
Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who was hired away from the Denver Nuggets after transforming that organisation into a perennial playoff contender, is desperate to bring in a rim-protecting big to play alongside Towns.
According to latest News Stats & Information research, the Timberwolves’ most visible shortcoming has been rim defence, as they allowed opponents to shoot 66.9 percent at the basket last season, ranking 25th in the NBA. Gobert has established himself as one of the best rim defenders in NBA history, joining Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, and Dwight Howard as the only players to win three Defensive Player of the Year titles.
Beasley and Beverley, Utah’s two most experienced players, have expiring contracts for $28.5 million, while Beasley has a $16.5 million club option for 2023-24. Vanderbilt, 23, has showed potential as a rotation player, while first-round choices Bolmaro and Kessler are also young. In a tweet following the announcement of the deal, Beasley wished the Wolves luck before vowing to help the Jazz reach the playoffs.