LAS VEGAS – The Minnesota Timberwolves kicked off their offseason by trading for 3-time All-Star and 3-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz. Nobody was likely happier than Gobert, but LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum is up there for second.

The Jazz endured heartbreaking playoff losses to the LA Clippers in the 2021 postseason — partially without Kawhi Leonard — and to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 postseason — partially without Luka Doncic. The loss to the Clippers, up 2-0 and tied 2-2 when Kawhi Leonard was ruled out for the season, appeared to be the beginning of the end for the Jazz.

Batum, who knows Rudy Gobert very well from their time playing together in France, played a key role as the small-ball center in that Clippers-Jazz series. He says he's happy to see Gobert move to a different situation.

“I'm pretty close to him and I'm glad,” Nicolas Batum told ClutchPoints during Day 1 of Clippers Training Camp in Las Vegas. “I think it was time to move on for both parts. I mean Utah and him, they did that I think with everybody. It's a good spot for him. It is a good team. I don’t think I will say I like it because this team beat us in the play-in last year. So it's why Rudy is a big addition for them. But just for my friend, I am happy to see him with a good team, new spot, new everything, new life for him. He needed that.”

Rudy Gobert reportedly irritated Jazz teammates — namely Donovan Mitchell — the wrong way when he mentioned watching the Phoenix Suns and how they play defense earlier this season. The quote seemed to rub Mitchell the wrong way, and it was evident that both sides needed to move on. The collapse in Utah similar to the Lob City Clippers who blew a 3-1 lead to the Houston Rockets.

After what felt like months of deliberations between the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz on a Donovan Mitchell trade, Mitchell was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Jazz, fully embracing their rebuild, traded both Gobert and Mitchell in a span of two months.

“Once Rudy [Gobert] got traded [to the Timberwolves], I kind of saw the writing on the wall,” Donovan Mitchell told members of the media in his introductory press conference. “I think we all did. I think we understood [that] we had a good run.”

Now, the Jazz are headed to the bottom of the Western Conference while Rudy Gobert and the Timberwolves are expected to contend for a playoff spot. If they can stay healthy, the LA Clippers will likely be near the top of the West awaiting their playoff opponents.