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MINNEAPOLIS — The Timberwolves made their blockbuster trade for Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert official on Wednesday.
The team said it sent Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro, Walker Kessler and four first round picks to Utah. The teams will also swap first round picks in 2026.
Gobert said that, among the teams interested in trading for him, the Wolves were “probably the best, most exciting situation in terms of basketball, for me.”
“I’m excited to be playing with some very talented young players. Obviously KAT is a tremendous player and very unique, so I can’t even imagine all the things that we’re going to be able to do on the floor,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be another team that’s going to be able to bring to the table what we’re going to bring to the table.”
The 30-year-old, 7-foot-1 Gobert has played his entire career with the Jazz, earning All-Star and Defensive Player of the Year honors three times each. He was also named to the All-Defensive First Team six straight years (2017-2022), and has made All-NBA four times.
“When you look at players of Rudy’s abilities, they don’t become available very often,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said during an introductory press conference on Wednesday.
Last season, Gobert averaged 15.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks a game.
The Wolves gave up a haul for Gobert, including one of their 2022 first round picks (Kessler) and Beverley, who was the emotional core of the team’s unexpected playoff run this past season.
“I think he’s the perfect fit at the perfect time for our organization. We needed to do something,” head coach Chris Finch said. “We felt that last year we laid a great foundation, we didn’t want to go backwards from it, and we have a guy who comes in here and is able to impact both ends of the floor.”
After extending Karl-Anthony Towns last week, the Wolves now have two centers on $200+ million dollar contracts.
Source: CBS
