Timberwolves Don’t Want To Trade Rudy Gobert

Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly told NBA reporter Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson that he doesn’t want to trade Rudy Gobert. 

“We’d like Rudy to be here for a really long time,” Connelly said. “We love his agent, he’s been our friend for a long time and one of the best guys in the league. And certainly, our goal with most of these guys is keeping them as long as they want to be here and everyone’s very happy.

“So ideally, I think continuity is one of the better strengths we’re gonna have going into this season and we really like our core group.”

Gobert will make $43.8 million next season. He has a player option worth $46.7 million for the 2025-26 season. 

The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals last season. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games. 

Gobert averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.1 blocks last season while shooting 66.1% from the field and 63.8% from the free-throw line. He won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award. 

One of the top big men in the league, Gobert was second in the NBA in rebounds, second in rebounds per game, fifth in blocks and sixth in blocks per game last season. 

Gobert has career averages of 12.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.1 blocks with the Utah Jazz and Timberwolves. He’s made three All-Star teams, four All-NBA teams and seven All-Defensive teams. 

However, Gobert was voted the most overrated player in the NBA by his peers.

The Athletic polled anonymous NBA players last season. 81 votes were cast for the most overrated player and Gobert received 13.6% of the votes. 

“There’s just something about Gobert’s game that his peers don’t like,” The Athletic wrote. “Maybe the skepticism stems from a lack of playoff success, as none of Gobert’s teams have advanced to the conference finals. Or maybe it all traces back to the bubble in 2020 when the Clippers’ Terance Mann buried all those 3s over Gobert in the West semifinals and sparked serious scrutiny about the perceived limitations of the big man’s game.”