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Star center Rudy Gobert faced heavy scrutiny during his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, he's redeemed himself this year, thriving as one of the NBA's premier big men. According to Timberwolves star wing Anthony Edwards, Minnesota's deepening trust in the three-time All-Star has been the key to its success.
Following Wednesday's 133-85 clobbering of the shorthanded Toronto Raptors, the Timberwolves (53-23) improved to first in the Western Conference. They are tied with the Denver Nuggets (53-23) but own the tiebreaker, given their 2-1 lead in their season series.
Minnesota's record marks a substantial improvement over its eighth-placed finish (42-40) last year with nearly the same roster. According to Edwards, he and his teammates learning to trust Gobert on offense has sparked the Timberwolves' newfound dominance.
"I think trusting Rudy, that's the main thing," Edwards said. "... Like, we all trust Rudy, together.
"We trust to hit him in the pocket. We trust when we call a post-up that he's gonna catch it and do his thing, catch it in the pocket and make one more [pass]. We trust him at the free-throw line. You know, just little things like that. It goes a long way, and he's been playing his a** off."
While Gobert hasn't experienced a noticeable jump in his offensive production, he remains a nightly double-double threat, scoring on high efficiency.
Through 70 games, he is averaging 13.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game on 65.5% shooting.
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Rudy Gobert is overwhelming favorite to win 2024 Defensive Player of the Year award
In addition to looking more comfortable offensively this season, Rudy Gobert has returned to his typical elite defensive level.
Minnesota gave up a massive haul, including four first-round picks and a pick swap, to acquire Gobert from the Utah Jazz in the 2022 offseason. At the time, he was considered arguably the NBA's top defensive big man.
He didn't live up to expectations in Year 1 with the Timberwolves, resulting in criticisms about the franchise overpaying for him. However, the 31-year-old has flipped the script this season.
Gobert has spearheaded the Timberwolves' No. 1-ranked defensive rating (107.8), a considerable jump from its 10th-placed ranking (113.1) last year.
As a result, he is the overwhelming favorite to win this season's Defensive Player of the Year award, sitting at -4000 odds on FanDuel. Another DPOY win would mark his fourth, tying him with Hall of Fame big men Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace for the most all-time.
It remains to be seen if Gobert will maintain his elite play in the playoffs. However, as of now, the trade appears to be paying off for Minnesota.
