My Thoughts On Rudy Gobert’s Extension
Rudy Gobert signed a 5yr/$205 million dollar contract extension to stay with the Utah Jazz. Gobert has been one of the best defensive centers in the league, winning 2 DPOY Awards. He has been the anchor for the Jazz these past few seasons. But I’m not so sure that I like this move by the Jazz. Here are my thoughts on this extension.
Is Gobert Worth This?
This extension signed by Gobert was the 3rd largest contract in NBA History. But was he really worth it? Gobert only wanted to sign with the Jazz if he was getting a super-max extension, and he got it. But I’m not so sure Gobert is worth it, for a few reasons. Gobert is a defensive specialist, and his shot-blocking abilities are unmatched. But his offense isn’t great. Gobert gets all his points from the free throw line or right at the basket. He hasn’t developed a great jumper, a growing problem in the current NBA.
Gobert needs good facilitators like Mike Conley or Ricky Rubio to set him up with easy shots down low. Gobert isn’t a guy you can consistently go down low to, and he isn’t a offensive threat.
So paying this guy $46.5 million during the 2025-26 season isn’t the smartest idea. I thought that the Jazz would trade Gobert for somebody more versatile down low, and instead they use more of that precious cap space. They’re paying so many guys like Mitchell, Conley, Clarkson, Bogdanovic, and Gobert so much money and there aren’t many ways out of it.
So I really don’t think Gobert is worth the 3rd biggest in NBA History, as he is only great at one side of the ball. He doesn’t do much on his own on offense, and his game doesn’t fit well in the modern NBA.
Does This Make The Jazz Contenders?
To put it simply, no. The Jazz will still be a playoff team and solid, but locking up Gobert doesn’t change anything. The Jazz are coming into 2020-21 with an almost identical team to last season. They still need to add some scorers, and they need to fully add Conley and Bogdanovic into the offense. There are a lot of teams that are better than him, and I doubt that the Jazz become title contenders because of one thing.
That one thing being cap space. The Jazz are paying a lot of money, to a lot of different people:
Donovan Mitchell: $28+ million starting in 2021-22 season
Bojan Bogdanovic: $17+ million until 2023
Mike Conley: $34.5 million this season (2020-21)
Jordan Clarkson: $11.5+ million until 2024 (2023 player option)
Rudy Gobert: $25.7 million this season, $35.3+ million starting 2021-22. UFA in 2026 with a player option in 2025
The Jazz are tying up so much money, that they don’t have much cap space. They can’t make the team more balanced, and instead have to rely heavily on the starting 5 and a couple of bench pieces.
So adding Gobert just mounted to the growing problem in Salt Lake, and I don’t see the Jazz winning a title in the next 5 years. They might become a little better and might make a conference finals one year, but a title seems out of the realm of possibilities right now. Obviously a lot can and will change in 5 years, but as of right now it’s not looking like this changes much in Utah.
Is The Duo of Mitchell And Gobert That Good?
With the Jazz signing both of their best players this offseason to massive extensions, they’ll be playing together for a long time. But is this duo good enough to lead this Jazz team to a title. First, they say that their chemistry from the Covid situation was fixed, but I’m not so sure that’s true. It could be true, but I’m not fully sold that Mitchell and Gobert are the best of buddies.
Mitchell is going to be a superstar. He is a great scorer from all 3 levels and very deserving to be the franchise player of the Jazz. He has the chance to be one of the best two-way guards in the league for a long time. And then there’s Gobert.
Gobert is a great shot-blocker and one of the best defenders in the league, but as I said earlier, his offensive game is poor. Needs a facilitating guard to score and has no resemblances of a jumper. He doesn’t fit well in the modern NBA and all it’s spacing and shooting. I don’t know if Gobert can survive using the playstyle that he currently has.
This duo is good, as they have won a playoff series (mostly due to rookie Donovan Mitchell being a god), but I don’t see them as being a championship duo.
So I don’t see this extension as a great move. Gobert is only good at half the game as his offense is falling behind from the rest of the league. The Jazz didn’t become title contenders with move, and I don’t see them winning a title in the future with all the cap space that they have tied up to this roster. Mitchell and Gobert are a solid duo, but not title contenders. So this might have been a bad move by the Jazz to sign Gobert to the 3rd largest contract in NBA history.
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