It was expected, it is official. After nine seasons in Utah, Rudy Gobert is being traded to Minnesota for five players from four future first-round picks. The two interested clubs confirmed the news on Wednesday, and the 30-year-old tricolor international mainstay, three-time MLB Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-Star, was introduced at a news conference. It’s an opportunity for him to embrace his (high) ambitions with the Timberwolves, to go on and on about his friendship with Karl-Anthony Towns and how much he is.”excited“Arriving in Minneapolis, in a trade he hopes”win-win” for all.
His first words at the opening of the press conference :”I’m so excited to be here. Thanks to Tim (Connelly, president of basketball operations, editor’s note) for believing in me and putting me in this unique situation. I want to win! Three days before the trade, my agent Buna (N’Diaye) told me that Tim and Minnesota were interested. I told him I needed a day or two to think about it. I came back to him a day later and said that this was probably the most exciting basketball situation I’ve ever been in. A day later the trade was happening… I’m excited to do a great job with the community, but also because I know this city has great fans, I’ve seen them talk to me on Twitter for nine years (smile is). I am excited to play with talented young players. KAT (Karl Anthony Towns, local star, editor’s note) is an incredible, unique player, I can’t even imagine the things we’ll be able to do on the court, the great things I’ll be able to do for him. community, make Minnesota a better place. Thank you all and I am excited.»
His feelings when first told of Minnesota’s interest :”I was surprised because they weren’t part of the teams we knew were interested. KAT and I have been rivals for years, we are unique and different players. The first time Buna told me about it, I wondered if it could work with KAT… I thought about it every day, going to sleep, more and more… And I told myself that it’s for me was the most exciting challenge associated with it. a player like KAT in an organization like the Timberwolves who really wants to win and do what it takes to get there, I couldn’t have hoped for a better situation, a more exciting situation. And it happened. Again, I’m very excited.»
I don’t think there’s going to be another team that can come up with what we’re going to come up with.
Rudy Gobert
The KAT/Gobert duo :”Will our differences allow us to play together? Yes! And we will be unique. I don’t think there’s going to be another team that can come up with what we’re going to come up with. My goal is to make Carl a better player on both ends of the court, make his life easier and guide him to become better than he is. And I think his presence will have the same effect on me. It will be the same with other players. Anthony Edwards has improved year on year, he is one of the most exciting young players in the league, I am excited to play alongside him. It’s D’Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels is a great quarterback… It’s an absolutely unique base of young players. A very good coach, even if he constantly complains about my screens (smiles). Now we’re on the same page, so I’m excited. (…) Again, we are both unique, we bring different things and I think we can complement each other on both sides of the pitch, that we can improve on both sides of the pitch. If you told me this would happen a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed it… But now that it’s real, I’m very excited. I have to let him be even more himself, even more dominant, avoid mistakes for him, share my knowledge and he his. It can only be positive for our team. We will be able to do many things. The coach will be able to do interesting things. There are many things we will learn during the season. The quality of his passes, his shots, his technique, it’s unique for a player of his size. I think I will allow him to be even bigger and that will allow our team to win at the highest level. The goal is to win the title. I came for this. I didn’t come just to be a good team. I want to try to get this team to the finals and do that. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get these guys, this team in the process.»
A new environment after nine seasons in Utah :”There is a lot of excitement. Utah is the only team I’ve played for nine seasons. I had great memories there, I’m very thankful for all the time I spent there, the relationships I made there, that’s my family, that won’t change. But I now have this opportunity, the challenge, to come to another team and try to make it move forward, discover a new being, a new community, it’s a lot of excitement. This is new to me, I spent nine years in Utah. It’s an incredible moment for me. Meeting people every day, discovering Minnesota will be a great thrill… I love nature. It’s more lakes than mountains here, but it’s still great and I’m excited. (…) It’s exciting. I was the type that thought it would be nice to spend my whole career in the same team, but I also always thought how nice it would be to change the place, the system, the environment. Whatever happens, it will be positive.»
Years of working in jazz : “I spent nine amazing years in Utah. We have built something unique and it will remain even if we don’t win the title. Those were great years in terms of success, we had the most wins in the NBA (regular season) in the last four years… Even without a ring, that’s quite an accomplishment. All these years, this journey, has made me a better player, a better person, and now I’m in a position where I can hopefully take this team to where we want to be. It’s exciting.»
Ingredients for the climb :”We must continue to create habits, a culture of winning. It started already last season. I was playing against a Minnesota team that differed from previous years in their will to win. Even if they won all their matches against us last season (smile). But I felt that their will to win was stronger last season, the culture, the way they approach the game… I felt that something had changed. You have to give these guys credit, Pat Beverley (who was part of the trade and sent to Utah, editor’s note) and others brought toughness to this team. My goal is to bring that and be a leader, to give those habits that I was talking about. We discussed it with the coach: we have to have fun offensively, we have a good team at the offensive level (smiles), but you have to create your habits defensively and play as a team. You have to love being together like winning.»
D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards :”I can help them be open. The openings that they will have with my screens or when I get around and my passing game, I will have a chance to show that more this season, it will allow them to be better. And this is without forgetting the “space” that KAT will offer, and with our style of play, they will have more open shots than in recent years. Also, they didn’t get a chance to throw a lot of lobbies (smiles), but now we’re going to work on that. It’s a tough gun to defend… I’m excited, there’s a lot to say, to do on the court, that’s what makes this situation unique. the more weapons there are, the more ways to play together would be nice.»
It can be a win-win situation
Rudy Gobert
Why did Utah trade him? :”It is a good question. There was the departure of Quinn (Snyder, now former coach of the Jazz). He was there for eight years, that was a big part of what we did. The chance to win sometimes isn’t that great… That’s what happened to us in Utah. I think the organization imagined that we exceeded this window. It will remain a very competitive team. But they figured with all the parts they could get with me, maybe that’s how it should go. It can be a win-win situation after all. Either way, they put me in a great position to win, on a team that can hopefully win a title. That’s what I’m thankful for. And they, I hope, will be able to progress and return to the level that was ours a few years ago. Let’s face it, we never made it past the second round of the playoffs, but we finished first in the Western Conference, which doesn’t happen very often… It’s never clear, there’s bound to be a lot of variables. and In such cases it is difficult to say what is right or wrong. Sometimes you have to make decisions. I’m thankful they put me in a position where I can go for the win.»
Statements made at the press conference
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.