Evaluating Timberwolves’ blockbuster Rudy Gobert trade, four years later

The Gobert trade came at the peak of an era where teams were trading an unfathomable amount of capital for players. The NBA’s newest Collective Bargaining Agreement has since changed the way teams build their rosters, but at the time, seemingly every team that wanted to contend was mortgaging their future for a star-level player.

Even so, Minnesota’s trade seemed like overkill. For starters, they already had one of the best centers in recent memory manning the pivot spot. Karl-Anthony Towns, the team’s former number one overall pick, was the Timberwolves starter at the five spot. While Towns was already established as one of the best shooting big men ever, his transition to the power forward spot was risky. Furthermore, some critics were concerned that Gobert would clog the paint and mess up the spacing for a team that had a predominant slasher, Anthony Edwards, as the face of the franchise.

Any on-court concerns have since been eradicated. While Gobert still isn’t known for his offense, the Timberwolves have had enough go-to scorers that it hasn’t mattered. Naz Reid, Julius Randle, and Jaden McDaniels are all capable of putting the ball in the basket. Reid, in particular, has a guard-like skill set as a frontcourt player, and that has allowed the Timberwolves to do some unique things offensively. Randle’s physicality makes up for the interior scoring that Gobert may lack, and McDaniels has become a great three-level scorer in his own right. Plus, Edwards has developed into a knockdown shooter, even leading the league in 3-point makes last season.

Although Towns has since been traded, even his fit with Gobert was better than expected. The Timberwolves have made back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, and they are once again proving the doubters wrong during the 2026 NBA playoffs, largely because of the play of their French center. Minnesota was viewed as underdogs in their first-round matchup against the Denver Nuggets, and not even injuries to Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Edwards could prevent them from besting their biggest rivals.

Then, they got the better of the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the conference semifinals. Fans have no choice but to wonder if another deep postseason run is inevitable. It has become clear that Gobert’s defense makes a world of difference. Teams completely change how they play because of his rim protection, and the success he found against Nikola Jokic in round one proved he can thrive just as much on the perimeter on defense. Gobert’s game isn’t the prettiest, and he often gets clowned by talking heads like Shaquille O’Neal, but he has been exactly what the doctor ordered for the Timberwolves.

How did the Jazz fare in the trade?

While Gobert’s fit with Minnesota and the success the Timberwolves have had is unquestionable, that doesn’t mean the Timberwolves outright won their prior blockbuster trade. The team still gave up a ridiculous amount of capital and assets, and the jury is still somewhat open for Utah’s side of the bargain.

So far, the results have been hit-or-miss for the Jazz, which is to be expected when trading for such a large quantity of players/picks. Kessler has turned into a high-caliber shot blocker in his own right. He missed the majority of this season for the Jazz, but that allowed the team to tank, and now he is expected to be a key part of an exciting core going forward. On the other end of the spectrum, Bolmaro turned into a massive bust and only lasted 14 games with the Jazz. He had six total points during that stretch.

While Beasley and Vanderbilt are solid role players, the former as a 3-point marksman and the latter as a great rebounder, their tenures in Utah were short-lived, too. Both players were re-packaged in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers that also included the Timberwolves yet again. Franchise legend Mike Conley was sent packing, too, but the Jazz ended up with Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damion Jones, and a 2027 first-rounder from the Lakers, but more on that subsequent trade later.

From the original Gobert trade, the Jazz have cashed in on two of their first-round picks. They took Keyonte George in 2023, and he looks like a future All-Star. George scored 23.6 points per game this season, which would have been tied with James Harden for the 17th-best mark in the NBA if the point guard had hit the games played threshold. With the 2025 first-rounder they added, the Jazz did some maneuvering and ultimately ended up with Walter Clayton Jr. The Florida product was fresh off a national championship, but he has already been moved by the Jazz.

Utah won’t swap picks with Minnesota this year since they ended up with a worse record, and their 2027 and 2029 first-rounders are still to come. They’ve done a solid job of using Minnesota’s capital to continue making trades so far. As mentioned above, some of the role players Utah added from the Timberwolves netted them a 2027 first-rounder from the Lakers, which was viewed as a premier asset at the time. The Jazz used that pick, along with two more first-rounders, Clayton, Kyle Anderson, Georges Niang, and Taylor Hendricks, to add Jaren Jackson Jr., Vince Williams, John Konchar, and Jock Landale. Williams and Landale are gone, but Jackson will form part of a big five that there is a lot of optimism about.

With Jackson, George, Ace Bailey, Lauri Markkanen, and a lottery pick in a stacked 2026 NBA Draft class, the Jazz have the makings of a real contender going forward. They’ve won just 107 games since Gobert left, including just 22 this season. Winning has always been viewed as something that will happen down the road, though, and the Jazz have oftentimes been better than expected during this rebuild.

It is safe to say that, for now, the Timberwolves won the Gobert trade, and that deal certainly panned out better for Minnesota than anybody would have expected. Depending on what Utah does with their remaining assets, though, this just may end up being a rare win-win trade when it is all said and done.