The Minnesota Timberwolves shocked the rest of the NBA after going all-in on Rudy Gobert. The acquisition caught a lot of people off guard – including the T-Wolves players themselves, many of whom didn't believe it until it was 100 percent confirmed.

According to the recent report centered on the deal from ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the move was a stunner for the players for reasons that go beyond the trade return. Several of the Timberwolves were said to be expecting a run-it-back scenario after making some noise in the playoffs the previous year.

Via ESPN:

“People were telling me and [I thought] I'm not believing it until my coach tells me,” Jaden McDaniels said. “Everybody in the group chat starts saying ‘OK, this is going to be a challenge at first.'”

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The young superstar tandem of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards will only continue to get better and likely would have taken a next step regardless of the Gobert acquisition. The move is one of trust in the duo and accelerates their timeline to contend, but it's one not everyone anticipated as he came in exchange for some of the team's more popular figures.

“We were already in kind of the mindset to run it back with the pieces that we had,” said guard Jordan McLaughlin, now in his fourth season with the Timberwolves. “And then for that trade to happen, it was different for us.”

“It wasn't that it put us in a bad mood,” said forward Taurean Prince, “but, uh, we were surprised.”

The Timberwolves sent out starting power forward Jarred Vanderbilt and vocal veteran Patrick Beverley in the deal. While the Rudy Gobert trade could certainly elevate them into becoming a contender, it wasn't without its drawbacks.