The Utah Jazz are trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro and four first-round picks, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The four picks are reportedly: 2023 (unprotected), 2025 (unprotected), 2027 (unprotected) and 2029 (top-5 protected). Kessler was also Minnesota's first-round choice in 2022, going 22nd overall.
Gobert, a three-time defensive player of the year, has played his entire nine-year career in Utah up to this point. He has four years left on his contract at a $42.4 million average.
Last season, he averaged 15.6 points, 14.7 points and 2.1 blocks, shooting 71.3 per cent from the field.
He now joins a Timberwolves core of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D'Angelo Russell that carried Minnesota to a 46-36 record, through the play-in tournament and to a six-game series against the No. 2 seed Memphis Grizzlies.
The Gobert-Towns partnership, in particular, will be intriguing as both players are centres, though Towns has struggled on the defensive end. Acquiring Gobert, one of the most decorated defensive players in league history, will help shelter him on that end of the floor. On the offensive side of things, the two may be able to co-exist due to Towns' ability to stretch the floor as an excellent shooter.
This marks the first major move by new Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who was poached from the Denver Nuggets.
More to come...
