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In reference to Minnesota's interest in White, which The Athletic's Sam Amick first reported Friday morning, trading him for Rudy Gobert would represent a clear salary match. Sources say that Boston, furthermore, has inquired about Gobert before ... most recently at February's trade deadline.
Chris Finch: "I felt that going into Game 6, we tried to make some adjustments that were clearly not right. I kicked myself for doing it, just because I felt we didn't probably need to be as extreme. I flipped the matchups around. We put Rudy Gobert on Castle, and we started with Julius Randle on Victor Wembanyama, trying to mitigate Wembanyama's hot starts. We did a good job, but then Castle got loose on us. It wasn't a scheme that we were overly comfortable with. We've done it from time to time, and it maybe just wouldn't have been the time to do it."
The Defensive Player of the Year portion followed the same pattern. Lau had Rudy Gobert third, even though Gobert was the runaway consensus pick with 82.2 percent of the maximum possible score that season. Giannis Antetokounmpo and George rounded out the Top 3 among voters, and Lau picked neither. His Top 2, Draymond Green and Joel Embiid, did not crack the Top 3 of the award overall. Though the league is less punitive about outlier votes than you might expect, it goes without saying that was the final ballot Lau ever got for end-of-season NBA awards.
Darren Wolfson: "If I had to wager, Julius Randle above Rudy Gobert. Be careful what you wish for. You just laid it out, all the success. We know, Rudy is an incredible floor raiser. That's why there's value."
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NBA Communications: The 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team: ▪️ Rudy Gobert, @Timberwolves ▪️ Chet Holmgren, @okcthunder ▪️ Ausar Thompson, @DetroitPistons ▪️ Victor Wembanyama, @spurs ▪️ Derrick White, @celtics
Head coach Frederic Fauthoux has named a 16-player roster for the senior national team of France heading into the upcoming July window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers, as revealed by the French Federation of Basketball on Friday. The star-studded training camp squad is highlighted by the returns of veterans Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, alongside a strong NBA contingent featuring Bilal Coulibaly, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Guerschon Yabusele, and newcomer Maxime Raynaud. While France will be without Victor Wembanyama following his deep run in the 2026 NBA Playoffs, presented by Google, Fauthoux balanced the roster with EuroLeague standouts Sylvain Francisco, Nadir Hifi, Jaylen Hoard, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Frank Ntilikina, Elie Okobo, and Matthew Strazel, who were also called up alongside window veterans Adam Mokoka and Amine Noua to ensure continuity.
Dwyane Wade: "Draymond Green walked up on me before and had a conversation. He didn't like what I said in the Olympics about something. It was about Rudy Gobert. It was about Rudy Gobert and I know we had to have that conversation and I had to express with him like, hold on, I got a job. I got a role. I'm on the government side of the Utah Jazz. I want Rudy Gobert to do. Yes, I want the US to win. But also I want to see Rudy Gobert had success. And we said there had that combo and I appreciated that because he came up to me about, hey, I didn't like how you said this and I was like, respect now, let's talk about it. So as long as it go that way and we could talk about how you received it."
As the offseason approaches for Minnesota, NBA insider Jake Fischer indicated that uncertainty is already building around whether Rudy Gobert remains part of their long-term core. "Rudy Gobert, as much as he's been an absolute floor raiser that helped Minnesota win significant games in regular season year after year, his shortcoming offensively have been shown. He had a good series with Nikola Jokic this spring, but I do think there are starting to be some questions in Minnesota about the viability of Gobert long-term," the insider stated in his latest Bleacher Report livestream.
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Darren Wolfson: "I just I've always come to the conclusion, if Rudy Gobert is playing 30 to 35 minutes a night, you're not winning a championship. I've thought that for years, I continue to think that, but he's an incredible floor raiser. Like if you're Charlotte, he would be great. If you're New Orleans, think about hiring defensive-minded head coach Jamal Mosley. What about New Orleans for Gobert? Toronto. They were good, but Jakob Poeltl, like no. Toronto's had interest in Gobert for a while. Chicago too, but I don't know exactly what Chicago's thinking, they just hired a new front office. But like you can trade Rudy Gobert."
“I think they were the better team,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “We feel like we had a chance to beat these guys. But when it came down to the court, they clearly outplayed us in three games. Now it’s about looking at why and understanding why.”
The most obvious avenue for the Timberwolves to look at a major change is in the frontcourt. Julius Randle ($33 million), Gobert ($36.5 million) and Reid ($23.3 million) are set to be paid almost $95 million next season. Randle and Gobert have two more years left on their contracts while Reid is signed through 2029-30. Gobert turns 34 in June, and Randle will be 32 in November, with the clock ticking on their ability to surround Edwards (24), McDaniels (25) and Reid (26) in the Timberwolves’ young core.
Rudy Gobert on whether he's surprised by Wemby being so good this quickly: "I wouldn't say surprised...it's credit to his work. I'm aware of that. Sooner or later you get rewarded when you have that kind of mindset. He led his team. Now it's gonna be interesting to see how he's ready to face that next challenge and see if he takes his team to the promised land this year"
