Named three times best defender in the NBA in 2018, 2019 and 2021, Gobert, 30, was also 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 rear Donovan Mitchell, even if the Jazz never managed to materialize in the play-offs the hopes placed in this association.
According to ESPN, the 2.16m center will be sent to Minnesota once morest 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). He is expected to form a formidable pair in the Timberwolves lineup alongside another top insider, Karl-Anthony Towns, who has reportedly extended his four-year tenure in Minnesota for $224 million ( nearly 215 M EUR), and also evolve with the young promising fullback Anthony Edwards.
Best rebounder of the regular season last year with 14.7 catches per game on average, “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, 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 M EUR) over 5 years. With the Blues, he has 74 caps since 2012.
During this first full day of the summer transfer window in the NBA, which might 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, with contracts officially unable to be signed until Wednesday.
Among the most notable, the new contract with the Bulls of Zach LaVine, one of the most coveted free agents, who will finally stay in Chicago for five years and 215 million dollars (more than 206 M EUR), the arrival of the former Washington and Houston point guard John Wall at the Los Angeles Clippers for two seasons, or the extension of Bosnian pivot Jusuf Nurkic with the Portland Trail Blazers for four years and 70 million dollars (around 67 M EUR).
With AFP.
