Utah Jazz big man and three-time Defensive Player of the year recipient Rudy Gobert has caught a lot of flak in the past few days. After dropping the series against the Los Angeles Clippers, NBA fans were quick to point out Gobert’s flaws and how they contributed to the Jazz losing four straight games to get eliminated in the second round.

According to StatMuse, Gobert was the primary defender on 19 Clippers shot attempts in the second half of Game 6. Guess what happened? The Clippers capitalized on nearly 80 percent of them, making 15 of those shots. Gobert finished the game with a pedestrian stat line of 12 points, 10 rebounds and two assists and was a minus-24 in Game 6. To put it simply, it wasn’t Gobert’s best game, but sadly it had to happen during the most important game of the season for the Jazz as the Clippers ran them off the court with a huge comeback.

So, like every eliminated team, the Jazz have to assess their roster moving forward. Gobert is the highest-paid player on the Jazz, but it still feels unlikely that he's traded this offseason. The Jazz have to find a way to build a roster around Gobert and Donovan Mitchell that is competent enough to make a deeper run in the playoffs and legitimately contender for a championship.

Gobert could still be the right running mate for Mitchell 

For as much criticism Gobert gets, he's not the only one to blame. The Jazz's issue was that they couldn’t get stops against the Clippers, which reflected the team’s defense as a whole and not just Gobert. Why? Because Utah had no answer for the Clippers’ small-ball lineup. 

The Jazz had a defensive rating of 127.7 in the series even against a Clippers team that didn't have Kawhi Leonard for the final two games. LA scored 119 points on 51.2 percent shooting in Game 5 and 131 points on 51.3 percent shooting in Game 6. The Clippers found an answer against the Jazz that the latter couldn't figure out.

When LA went small with five capable 3-point shooters on the floor, Gobert was exposed — forcing the Defensive Player of the Year to extend out on the perimeter and removing him from protecting the rim — which guys like Reggie Jackson, Paul George and even Terance Mann exposed in Game 6.

While this was an issue for Gobert (as was his inability to punish the small lineups on the other end), it didn't help that Utah's perimeter defense got absolutely smoked, often leaving the big man in bad positions. The lack of consistent two-way players needs to be addressed when the Jazz build around Mitchell and Gobert moving forward.

What the Jazz should add 

The Jazz have the perfect regular-season roster but not an ideal playoff one. In the playoffs, the best rosters are those that are versatile and can win in a number of ways. The more versatile the roster, the more weapons a coach can use in every series. The issue was not just Gobert. The Jazz need two-way wings who can help them come playoff time. They need a backup solution for when teams go small ball or decide to pick on Gobert. 

Given their current situation, this is going to be a challenge for Utah. But the good news for the Jazz is they have Mitchell and Gobert locked for a couple more years together. The pressure is on the front office to build a legitimate championship contender around the two All-Stars.