By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Utah Jazz have decided to trade away three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
Gobert, 30, is set to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The compensation for the Jazz amounts to Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Leandro Bolmaro along with unprotected first-round picks for the NBA drafts of 2023, 2025, and 2027 and a protected selection for the 2029 draft.
The French big man was included in trade rumors during the offseason. It took five players and four picks for the Jazz to pull the trigger and for the Timberwolves to pair up the newcomer with fellow dominating big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who is set to ink a supermax contract extension.
New contracts will not be official until the moratorium period is lifted on Wednesday, but incoming Gobert carries a contract guaranteed for three more seasons and including a player option for the 2025-26 season. He had penned a five-year, $205 million contract extension before the launch of the shortened 2020-21 season.
The nine-year run as a member of the Jazz was launched when the Salt Lake City NBA franchise selected Gobert with the 27th overall pick of the 2013 NBA draft. Producing 12.5 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 assists, and 0.7 steals per contest led to individual accolades such as the multiple NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards, earning a spot in the last three NBA All-Star Games, and making the All-NBA Third Team from 2019 through 2021, and more. However, the Jazz failed to extend their postseason run past the Western Conference Semifinals in six consecutive Playoff appearances since 2017.
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