Before the Utah Jazz pulled off their blockbuster trade sending Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the organization’s front office reportedly pitched a deal that would have instead sent their All-Star center to the Toronto Raptors.
On Friday, the Jazz and Timberwolves agreed on a massive deal that saw Utah send their homegrown star Rudy Gobert to Minnesota for five players — including Patrick Beverley — and four future first-round picks. It seems that the Jazz were indeed looking for more impactful talent now in a possible deal, and inquired with the Raptors about a couple of their best players.
On Saturday, Hoops Hype writer Michael Scotto revealed that before an agreement was made between the Jazz and Timberwolves, Utah got Toronto on the horn to gauge their interest in giving up OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. in a swap for Gobert.
“Gobert ranked atop Toronto’s wish list ahead of other centers on the trade market, such as Myles Turner, whose name has been mentioned in more rumors over the years,” Scotto wrote.
Obviously, a deal wasn’t made, and one has to assume if four first-round picks were a starting point for Utah in a Rudy Gobert trade, a savvy team president like Masai Ujiri likely found that to be too high a price.
At first glance, landing Anunoby and Trent might seem much more appealing than what the Jazz scored from the Timberwolves. Even with the potential of 2022 first-round pick Walker Kessler. However, the chance to get four first-round picks for a player of Gobert’s caliber is a good long-term return.
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