3-time defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert, has Championship aspirations with his new team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' newest member Rudy Gobert was introduced as his trade to the TWolves was made official. Gobert spoke in a press conference about his fit with the Timberwolves' core pieces, Karl-Anthony-Towns, Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell, and Jaden Mcdaniels.
Gobert said about his aspiration with the new team, "The goal is to win a championship. That's what I came here to do."
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Gobert said about his fit with TWolves Star Big-man Karl Anthony Towns, "Obviously, me and KAT have been going at it for many years and we're very unique and different players," Gobert said. "The first time [my agent] told me [about Minnesota] I was like 'Can that work?' I was thinking about it every day when I was going to bed. I was thinking about it more and more and actually, that's probably the most exciting challenge for me [to] pair with a guy like KAT and an organization like the Timberwolves that really wants to win."
"He's been growing and improving year after year," Gobert said of exciting shooting guard Anthony Edwards. "He's one of the most exciting young players in this league, so I'm excited to play alongside him and D'Angelo Russell and Jaden McDaniels... it's a very unique core of young guys and a really good coach that complains about my screens all the time, but now we're on the same side so I'm excited."
Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch also spoke to reporters in a press conference last night. Although Finch was worried about Gobert's screens because "they looked like they hurt," he called Gobert "the perfect fit at the perfect time for our organization."
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While some believe that having two giant players in the frontcourt is an outdated strategy in a league dominated by wings and guards, Finch thinks that he can create a system to make it work.
"There's no shortcutting the work, but we don't think it's an awkward fit at all," Finch said. "Every team is different as you put it together every preseason. Often times what you plan for in the offseason isn't 100% right. It might take 20 games to get it right. But we see no reason from a basketball perspective why it won't work."
The Timberwolves, who have two playoff appearances in the last 17 years, gave up five players and five first-round draft picks to acquire the 30-year-old Gobert from the Utah Jazz, and although the price was steep, they kept a lot of their core pieces, including rising superstar Anthony Edwards and the highly-coveted Jaden McDaniels.