This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Robert Zeglinski.
Rudy Gobert was supposed to take the Minnesota Timberwolves to the next level. A three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Gobert was supposed to slot in next to Karl-Anthony Towns as a big and give Minnesota the vaunted defensive presence it needed. A year after the Timberwolves made the playoffs for the first time in half a decade, Gobert was the missing trade piece from the Utah Jazz.
But sometimes, the puzzle pieces just don’t fit as one, and it’s better to realize that before smashing them together.
On Monday, Gobert received a suspension from the Timberwolves for taking a swing at his own teammate, Kyle Anderson, in Minnesota’s regular-season finale. In the aftermath, Gobert got appropriately roasted by Draymond Green, and the Los Angeles Lakers were now sitting pretty with a “gimme” game in a play-in tournament matchup today.
None of this should’ve happened. None of this is what the Timberwolves wanted when they added a third bona fide All-Star level player alongside Towns and Anthony Edwards. And it’s not that they got more than they bargained for. They got less. Considerably less.
Not only did Minnesota regress as a team, seemingly trading multiple-game winning streaks with multiple-game losing streaks on a whim, Gobert dropped off on a statistical basis, too.
In his Timberwolves debut campaign, the veteran had the lowest point and rebound totals of his career by at least five years in both instances. His block numbers were the worst since his rookie season in 2013. And a man who was already a liability on offense in Utah had his worst true shooting percentages since 2016.
Whatever Gobert brought to the table defensively — he did help turn Minnesota into a top-10 team in defensive rating — was clearly offset by a man who played like he was on the downswing. What good did the Timberwolves’ improved defense (which only went from 13th to 10th) get them if they’re still on the playoff fringe?
Throw in chemistry issues with teammates, the strange conspiratorial rants that helped no one, and so little self-awareness it almost hurts, and it’s obvious Gobert wasn’t fitting in.
If Minnesota loses on Tuesday night, it can start to reflect on what went wrong with Gobert. Perhaps, in the coming years, he improves and the Timberwolves start to reap the rewards. More likely, they’ll have to try and figure out how to get a mismatched seven-foot piece out of their broken puzzle.
Quick Hits: WNBA Draft highlights … Sunday Ticket prices … and more
- The WNBA Draft was Monday night! Our Mitchell Northam graded the first round, which saw No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston get creative with pictures. Meanwhile, Haley Jones made an embarrassing mistake.
- NFL Sunday Ticket prices on YouTube TV are going to be ridiculous.
- The Mets enjoyed some UNREAL third-base line luck against the Padres.