Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert beats out Milwaukee Bucks star swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo and Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Paul George to win the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Gobert won the award last season as well, beating out Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Joel Embiid.
This past regular season, Gobert averaged 15.9 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 66.9 percent from the field. The Jazz won 50 games in the regular season and had the fourth-best defense in terms of opponents points per game. Utah allowed only 106.5 points per night. Gobert was the main reason why the Jazz had an elite defense.
Gobert didn't make the All-Star team, but he should have. The big man finished the season fourth in the NBA in rebounds per game, second in total rebounds, third in blocks per game and second in total blocks (187).
The Jazz, who acquired Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies, now have a nice Big 3 of Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Conley. Some believe Utah can make a run to the Western Conference Finals in 2019-20.
Rudy has two years left on his contract. He'll make $24,258,427 next season and $25,775,281 in 2020-21. It's safe to say the Jazz will re-sign Gobert. He's one of their foundational pieces.
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