Rudy Gobert traded from Utah to Minnesota Timberwolves

Rudy Gobert, pivot of the French basketball team, will be transferred from the Utah Jazz, where he has been playing since 2014, to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The pivot of the French basketball team, crowned Olympic vice-champion last year, Rudy Gobert formalized his departure from the Utah Jazz, where he had been since 2014 and his arrival in the NBA. He will join the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Named best NBA defender three times in 2018, 2019 and 2021, the 30-year-old Frenchman has also been selected three times for the All Star Game of the North American basketball league.

Recognized for his defensive qualities, he was one of the centerpieces of the Salt Lake City team with fullback Donovan Mitchell. However, the Jazz never managed to materialize in the play-offs the hopes placed in this association.

Utah!!! I was just a kid from France when i got here 9 years ago… pic.twitter.com/TKmQ6tC4dH

— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) July 2, 2022

According to ESPN, the 2m16 center will be sent to Minnesota against five players (Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt and Leandro Bolmaro) and four first-round draft picks in the coming years (2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029).

Best rebounder last year

Rudy Gobert is set to train the Timberwolves, a fearsome pair in the racket alongside another top insider, Karl-Anthony Towns, who has reportedly extended his four-year tenure in Minnesota for $224 million. dollars (nearly 215 million euros). He will also play with promising young fullback Anthony Edwards.

Best rebounder of the regular season last year with 14.7 catches per game on average, the one who is nicknamed “Gobzilla” also scored 15.6 points per game. Fifth in the Western Conference with 49 wins and 33 losses, the Jazz players were eliminated in the first round of the play-offs by Dallas.

In December 2020, Rudy Gobert had signed a contract with Utah which was then one of the biggest ever signed in the NBA, for 205 million dollars (more than 195 million euros) over 5 years. With the Blues, he has 74 caps since 2012.

Vice Olympic champion with the Blues

During this first full day of the summer transfer window in the NBA, which could be marked by the resounding transfer of superstar Kevin Durant, who has asked to leave Brooklyn, other moves or extensions have been announced. In the press or by agents and not by the franchises themselves, the contracts cannot officially be signed before Wednesday July 6.

Among the most notable is the new contract with the Bulls of Zach LaVine, one of the most coveted free agents, who will ultimately stay in Chicago for five years and 215 million dollars (more than 206 million euros). But also, the arrival of ex-Washington and Houston point guard John Wall at the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons as well as the extension of Bosnian pivot Jusuf Nurkic with the Portland Trail Blazers for four years and 70 million dollars. (about 67 million euros).