Minnesota delivers a large deal to Utah, including five players and five draft selections
Minnesota is getting one of the NBA’s best defenders. Gobert is a three-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year and a six-time First Team All-Defensive selection.
With averages of 15 points and 13.9 rebounds, he has made the All-Star Game three years in a row.
According to Wojnarowski, the Timberwolves will send Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarrett Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, and a package of first-round picks to the Jazz.
Since the beginning of free agency, the Jazz team has stocked up on a ton of future assets, and now he leaves them. In exchange for Royce O’Neale, Utah received a 2023 first-round pick from the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
The Jazz also hired Will Hardy, a staunch San Antonio assistant and a member of Boston’s drive to the Eastern Conference title last season, to take over on the bench this week.
And now, Gobert is leaving, officially ending his on-court relationship with guard Donovan Mitchell in Utah — an on-court relationship that seemed great at times but strained at others.
According to ESPN’s Wojnarowksi, Utah’s intention now is to retool its roster and build around Mitchell.
After a string of disappointing playoff escapes for Gobert and Mitchell, the perennial question of whether the two might coexist on a title-contending team arose.
Last season, Utah was considered one of the favorites to win the NBA championship. They, like a few other teams at the top of that list—primarily the Lakers and Brooklyn—ended up being disappointments.
The Jazz, who brought back many key athletes from 2020–21, when they had the best regular-season record in the NBA, were defeated in six games by the Dallas Mavericks, their second first-round exit in three seasons.
Meanwhile, Gobert is now a member of a new duo, Twin Towers in the Twin Cities.
He’ll play alongside elite big man Karl-Anthony Towns, forming what could be the league’s best 1-2 big-man punch.
If no other moves are made, Minnesota could start D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jared McDaniels, Gobert, and Towns.
Minnesota reached the agreement less than 24 hours after agreeing to a $224 million, four-year contract extension with Towns, who is now under the deal for the next six years.
Gobert has four years and $170 million left on his five-year, $205 million contract with the Jazz, which he signed last summer.
