Minnesota Timberwolves Are Finally Going for It After Rudy Gobert Trade

It was reported on Friday that the Minnesota Timberwolves swung a blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert, an All-Star center and three-time defensive player of the year.

Even though the price was high, it was a good move.

The reported haul for Gobert was five players, including last week's No. 22 overall pick Walker Kessler. It's one of the more steep prices in a star trade in recent memory, up there with the bounty of picks the Nets got for James Harden in 2021. George and the Clippers were the only deals that didn't work out for the team.

It's admirable that the Wolves are willing to go for it despite the obvious risk.

The Timberwolves have been doormats for nearly two decades. The team was bought by a former Walmart executive and a baseball player in order to turn it around. The early results are hard to disagree with.

Chris Finch was rewarded for guiding the Wolves to the playoffs for the second time in 18 seasons with a contract extension. One of the league's fastest-rising stars was Anthony Edwards, the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. The basketball operations department was taken over by the executive who built the Denver Nuggets into a consistently good organization.

Signing Karl- Anthony Towns to a four-year, $224 million maximum extension would be enough to make a lot of organizations feel better. Going out and getting Gobert, even for what they had to give up, is a bet that Connelly made in his first few weeks at his new job. A lot of teams are afraid to bet on themselves.

There have been some groups that looked promising in the beginning only to fall apart. The Kevin Love-Ricky Rubio era was not able to overcome injuries. The organization plummeted back to irrelevance after the firing of Tom Thibodeau and the trade of Jimmy Butler, who wore out his welcome there and forced a trade.

Minnesota has a good thing going that doesn't feel like a bad thing. For all his flaws, Towns is one of the most skilled big men in the league and still only 26 years old. They have a good coach and a new basketball executive with a good track record.

Even though the season ended with a first-round exit, the entire organization was positive about the future.

This is the reason why this is happening. If he had taken a conservative approach while feeling out his new job, it would have been more understandable. He took the chance to make a statement and raise the ceiling.

Gobert is a good partner for Towns. Towns' rim protection can cover for Towns' weaknesses on the defensive end, and Towns' versatile offensive game can make it harder for opponents to play Gobert off the floor. It isn't just trading for a big name, it's also trading for one that's a perfect complement to the franchise centerpiece.

The Wolves haven't been to the playoffs in a long time, and this is the worst they've been in a long time. If Connelly's bet pays off that Gobert and Towns fit together as well as they should, all of those picks will be in the 20s anyway.

It's not a "no-brainer" to take this swing. If things go sideways, it could set the franchise back for the next 10 years. It's difficult to not respect a team that sees a window to truly go for it.