The Utah Jazz appear to be on the early stages of an entire organizational restructure.
After Brian Windhorst spoke on First Take that league executives were looking at the Utah Jazz to see what they would do with their top players, the first domino has fallen.
According to reports the Jazz have traded Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt and four future first-round picks. Unprotected first round picks in 2023, 2025 and 2027 are expected to go to Utah with a top-5 protected 2029 pick also included.
Gobert has been with the Jazz since 2013 and is a three-time defensive player of the year. The three time all-star and six-time All-NBA Defensive player partnered with Donovan Mitchell to form a deadly combination that has been to the playoffs for six straight seasons.
The trade alters the balance of powers in the western conference with the Timberwolves adding the defensive presence to a core of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.
Minnesota fell in first round of the NBA Playoffs last season to the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. The Timberwolves were 13th in overall defensive rankings, but 28th in defensive rebounding percentage.
Gobert is the reigning rebounding champion with 14.7 rebounds per game. Gobert averaged 15.6 points, and 2.1 blocks per game last season along with his league leading rebound production.
Gobert’s trade is the latest in what has been a transitional off-season for Utah.
Head coach Quin Snyder resigned last month, and the Jazz concluded an extensive search before hiring 34-year-old Boston Celtics assistant Will Hardy as Snyder’s replacement. Utah traded starting forward Royce O’Neale to the Brooklyn Nets for a 2023 first-round pick on Thursday, a move that signaled the Jazz could be entering a rebuild.
The Jazz had problems with their two stars
The Jazz trading their best defensive player is sure to begin questions on the future of all-star Donovan Mitchell, but also turns the page on a tumultuous few years in Utah, and started as early as 2019-20, when Gobert had contracted COVID-19 and began the mass shutdown of sports around the globe.
Even the 2021-22 season showed the ups-and-downs between the two.
The pair leaves without a Western Conference Finals appearance.
Gobert joins the general manager that drafted him back in 2013 when then-Nuggets GM, Tim Connelly traded his rights to Utah.
While the relationship between Gobert and Mitchell is now all but gone, the next stages of a new age in Utah Jazz basketball is set to commence. According to reports, the Jazz have now gathered a total of six first-round picks in a 24-hour span and plan to retool the roster around Mitchell alone.
For more NBA news, turn to AMNY.com
