| July 1, 2022, 7:49 pm
| Update: 8:42 p.m
Intrigue built all Friday that the Utah Jazz were making a big move, that league executives were starting to think the team might be headed for collapse and rebuilding. When traffic finally came, it wasn’t just big. It was seismic. The Jazz are trading one of their cornerstone pieces, All-NBA center and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, to the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In exchange, Utah will get two-way wing Malik Beasley, defensive guard Patrick Beverley, forwards Jarred Vanderbilt na dLeandro Bolmaro, rookie center Walker Kessler (No. 22 in the 2022 NBA draft) and four future first-round picks. Those picks will be unprotected picks from the Wolves in 2023, ’25 and ’27, plus a top-5 protected pick in 2029. The Jazz can also choose to trade a pick in 2026 if Minnesota finishes with worst record. It doesn’t appear to be a total rebuild, however, as Wojnarowski indicated that the team plans to “rebuild the roster around the All-Star [guard] Donovan Mitchell.” Gobert and Mitchell have been Utah’s focal points for the past half-decade. However, although the Jazz have qualified for the NBA playoffs for the past six seasons, the team has never made it past the second round. The team blew a 2-0 lead in the 2021 Western Conference semifinals to a Clippers team that was without injured superstar Kawhi Leonard and then this year’s first-round elimination to a Dallas Mavericks team that was without its All-Star. -NBA, Luka Doncic for three. games had the effect of making Utah’s future uncertain. Would the team try to trade pieces around Gobert and Mitchell? Or opt for a more drastic change? Last month’s moves now explain the latter choice. In early June, head coach Quin Snyder opted to step down after eight years at the helm, saying he felt it was time for the team to get a new voice. Earlier this week, the Jazz agreed to a five-year contract with Celtics assistant Will Hardy — a deal considered unusually long for a first-time coach and leading to speculation that the team was making a commitment to him. change is about to arrive. On Thursday, with the opening of free agency, Utah’s front office sent forward Royce O’Neale — a powerful 3-point shooter and the team’s best perimeter defender — to the Brooklyn Nets for a 2023 first-round pick. Advisor Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik also opted not to retain Juancho Hernangomez and declined to make offers to Eric Paschall and Trent Forrest. On Friday morning, ESPN personality and NBA insider Brian Windhorst went on a long and cryptic TV tangent, suggesting that league executives were wondering, “Why would the Jazz do this?” Hours later came the answer. Gobert, a three-time All-Star, three-time DPOY, one-time All-NBA Second Team honoree and three-time All-NBA Third Team selection, has been with the Jazz since 2013. He was selected with the No. 27 pick in that year’s draft by the Denver Nuggets, who traded his draft rights to Utah. The Nuggets’ general manager that year was Tim Connelly — the man who had just recently taken a new position as the Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations. For his career, Gobert averaged 12.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game on 65.3% shooting from the field. However, he has developed into one of the best players in the league in recent years. In the 2021-22 season, he led the NBA in rebounding (14.7) and FG% (71.3%), while also averaging 15.6 points and 2.1 blocks. While he became beloved among the team’s fans for almost single-handedly anchoring a defense without perimeter stoppers, for his development and improvement each year, and for his strong, underdog attitude, his time in Utah was not without controversy. . . He and Mitchell famously clashed in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The NBA entered a months-long hiatus after Gobert became the league’s so-called “Patient Zero” — the first player to test positive for COVID-19. Mitchell became incensed when he became the second to test positive the next day, accusing his teammate of being uncaring and careless. Although the two eventually repaired what The Sportsman infamously called an “unsalvageable” relationship, the premise of the tension between them never fully disappeared. Indeed, last season as the Jazz battled injuries, a COVID outbreak that rendered most of January a lost cause, and a string of double-digit power plays all combined to hang over the team like a black cloud. additional signs of strain appeared. As Gobert returned from an absence due to the coronavirus, he blasted the team’s defense without him, throwing a thin covered shot to Mitchell, noting that his Phoenix Suns counterpart Devin Booker was “playing his ass” defensively. Less than two months later, Mitchell returned the favor after a loss in Dallas. With Gobert out for the game with a foot injury, the guard continued to praise the “guys who matched up.” So, where do the Jazz go from here?
