By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
On a guaranteed contract until the end of the 2024-25 season and a player option for the 2025-26 season, Rudy Gobert can evolve into a potential target of the Chicago Bulls during the offseason, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.
Gobert, 29, would naturally attract interest from several NBA teams if he indeed becomes available via trade in the aftermath of the departure of head coach Quin Snyder. He was previously linked to the Toronto Raptors, reported by Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report last month.
The French center has spent all of his nine NBA seasons with the Jazz. Besides producing 12.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per regular-season contest and 13.4 points and 13.2 rebounds per playoffs game, the lengthy stint additionally includes three straight All-Star nods since 2020 and three distinctions as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2018, 2019, and 2021, among other individual accolades. However, the Jazz failed to move past the Western Conference Semifinals with Gobert on board and got eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round of the 2022 Playoffs.
Diving into a potential move to Chicago, the Bulls starting center Nikola Vucevic can be considered impossible to fit alongside Gobert, both financially and on the court. The Montenegrin international will become a free agent after the 2022-23 season if he does not sign a new contract and would most likely be among the players shifted out in such a trade.
Photo Credit: Getty Images