The Minnesota Timberwolves have a major choice to make this offseason and its not whether or not they should keep Kyle Anderson or Rudy Gobert.
Its whether they should keep Gobert or Karl-Anthony Towns, a player supplanted as face of the franchise by Anthony Edwards and who likely has a much higher trade value than Gobert right now. Furthermore, though KAT frustrated both on-court and off-court, he seems to have lost sight of the importance of the process while focusing on the end result.
However, given Towns' skill level and the fact that he rightfully has a better overall reputation as a player, the Timberwolves are reluctant to trade him. As they should be.
Still, the Timberwolves could opt to give the experiment a bit more time in order to achieve more clarity about who Edwards and their supporting cast plays better with. It just seems like the answer is already clear, which is why the Timberwolves must cut their losses with Gobert and trade him this offseason.
3 reasons Timberwolves must cut losses with Rudy Gobert trade in 2023 NBA offseason
It could get worse
It might seem like it couldn't get any worse than Rudy Gobert taking a swing at a teammate in the middle of the game.
However, as Gobert has had multiple teammates — current and former — that have had issues with him, then there's reason to question if they should continue taking a risk on a player that's an awkward fit in the locker and on the court. Especially with Gobert's well-documented issue guarding players in space rearing its ugly head as often as memories of his falling out with Donovan Mitchell. Events that preceded the Utah Jazz blowing up their roster.
That said, the ugliest scenario for Gobert could be on the offensive end. Unable to maximize his athleticism and catch radius as a lob threat because of his poor hands, a major factor in why D'Angelo Russell was frustrated with him throughout the season, Gobert sounds like he wants to expand his game. This shouldn't sound bad because player development isn't a bad thing.
However, players that don't play within themselves often make it harder on themselves and their team, and Gobert could very well be on that path.
Before things get any worse — and before Gobert does any more damage to his trade value — the Timberwolves should seriously explore moving him.
Susceptibility to speed
The benefit of starting Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert together is that their size gives them an inherent advantage on the boards against smaller teams.
However, the drawback of that duo is that teams with enough speed can make them look foolish in the halfcourt or the fullcourt. Neither KAT nor Gobert can be trusted to guard players out in space because of it and their transition defense left a lot to be desired with that duo as well.
In terms of their halfcourt defense, playing against teams like the Memphis Grizzlies or Sacramento Kings that can space their bigs out and attack the rim with athletic guards doesn't seem to bode well for them. Even shiftier guards like Jamal Murray can have success against them if forced into switches or to step outside of the paint.
Considering the fact that the Grizzlies, Kings, and Denver Nuggets are going to be among the teams to beat if the Minnesota Timberwolves want to win a championship, that issue can't be overstated.
Unfortunately, their issues with transition defense means young teams like the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons have a way to beat them as well. Although that may not seem to matter as much in the postseason, one reason the regular season is underrated is because it's the time when teams build habits and try to get homecourt advantage.
He has no answer for Nikola Jokic
Speaking of defense, the fact that Rudy Gobert is a 3-time Defensive Player of the Year seems to not matter against arguably the best player in the conference, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
Nikola Jokic has eviscerated Rudy Gobert this series. pic.twitter.com/r8MKSkGlrR
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) April 22, 2023
The Nuggets also have plenty of chemistry, ever-growing continuity, a veteran head coach and an upper echelon talent level. However, in a conference that could go through the Nuggets for the foreseeable future, Gobert being unable to truly stop Jokic leads to an intriguing question.
What's the point of him being in the West if he can't hold Joker?
Jokic averaged 26.2 points and 9.0 assists per game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the First Round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3. He averaged 25.0 points and 10.0 assists per game on 60.0 percent shooting from the field against the Timberwolves in the regular season.
Jokic is now 8-4 against Gobert in the postseason.
Of course, the Nuggets could always fall to another team in the playoffs, and the Timberwolves would never have to worry about this matchup. Furthermore, Gobert being unable to stop Jokic isn't a reason to trade him in a vacuum. However, avoidance of an issue isn't solving it and there are multiple reasons to move Gobert this offseason.
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