From the 2015-16 season to this past season, the 7-foot-1 center raised his points per game from 9.1 to 14.0 and his field-goal percentage from 55.9 to 66.1. Gobert, whose Fantasy stock has been slowly trending upwards since his 2013-14 rookie year, had a breakout campaign last season, largely due to his much improved scoring ability. Once again, he'll likely be a staple in most fantasy drafts' second or third rounds. Offensively, he'll remain a pick-and-roll option and an easy lob target for high-efficiency looks at the basket. Gobert's rebounding could dip slightly playing next to Karl-Anthony Towns, but he will likely still rank near the league leaders. He'll camp at the rim and swat away opponent shots with ease. The new situation is interesting for the three-time All-Star, but his role will likely remain unchanged, especially on defense. In fantasy, he's held a fairly consistent per-game production ranking between 23rd and 39th. Overall, he's averaged 14.8 points, 13.1 boards, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 assists on 67.3 percent shooting since 2016-17. During that timespan, Gobert led the NBA in blocks once, rebounds once and field-goal percentage three times. The 27th overall in 2013 has established himself as an elite defensive center over the past six years. He was selected in the first round (27th overall) by the Denver Nuggets and was traded later that night to the Utah Jazz.Īfter spending nine years in Utah, the Jazz traded Gobert to the Timberwolves this offseason in a blockbuster deal that netted the rebuilding Jazz a wealth of draft picks. Gobert declared for the 2013 NBA Draft, with the date landing a day after his 21st birthday. He led the French Jeep Elite in the 2012-13 season in blocks per game (1.8) and was second in the league in total blocks (48). He went on to play with Cholet Basket of the French LNB Pro A league, where he was named the Best Blocker and also was named to the league's All-Star team reserves in the 2012-13 season. You can follow Gobert on Twitter and Instagram Gobert's basketball talent was identified early on, as he played in the FIBA Under-18 Championships for France, where he was the team's top scorer and rebounder. Gobert often brings summer basketball camp MVPs to Utah to visit and attend Jazz games during the season, working to spread the love of basketball to youths in the Salt Lake area. Since entering the NBA, Gobert has been active in a number of charitable causes, most recently donating $500,000 to support part-time workers at Salt Lake City's Vivint Smart Home Arena and help fund coronavirus relief efforts in Utah and Oklahoma City. In his final season in France, Gobert averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Gobert started playing professional basketball at Cholet Basket in 2011, spending two years there before entering the NBA Draft. Gobert caught the basketball bug when he was 12 years old and started playing for clubs in his hometown of Saint-Quentin. He was forced to return to France due to a commitment to the French National Team, but his son has since fulfilled the family's NBA quest. Gobert's father, Rudy Bourgarel, played basketball at Marist College and drew NBA interest after his university days. Rudy Gobert was born in Saint-Quentin, France in 1992. Gobert is still a productive player in most fantasy formats and can do a good job on both ends of the court while also being quite durable for big men standards, but he's not the elite big men he was a few years ago. While the return of Karl-Anthony Towns, as well as the expected jump from Anthony Edwards, could alleviate some of the concerns around him, chances are he's not going to repeat the same numbers he was delivering with the Jazz. Furthermore, his 1.4 blocks per game were his lowest mark since his second year in the league. The veteran averaged 13.4 points and 11.6 rebounds per game during the 2022-23 regular season, but it's worth noting these were his lowest results since the 2015-16 campaign. There's no doubt Gobert is effective near the rim and can score from close range with the best of them, and he remains an elite rim protector who can also grab rebounds at an elite rate, but all those traits didn't appear consistently with Minnesota. It's hard to predict how good can Gobert be in 2023-24, in what's going to be his second year with the Timberwolves following the trade that sent him to Minnesota from the Jazz.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |