I’ve seen some mentions of the Minnesota Timberwolves trade for Rudy Gobert in less-than-positive terms. But perhaps the worst takes I’d read on the topic so far have been attempts to compare the Timberwolves trade for Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Vikings trade for running back Herschel Walker.
To see what I mean, let’s revisit the deal that sent RB Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings:
Vikings received one player and four picks :
RB Herschel Walker
Dallas’ 1990 3rd-round pick
Dallas’ 1990 10th-round pick
San Diego’s 1990 5th round pick
Dallas’ 1991 3rd round pick
Cowboys received four players and eight picks over three consecutive years:
LB Jesse Solomon
LB David Howard
CB Issac Holt
RB Darrin Nelson (traded to SD)
DE Alex Stewart
Minnesota’s 1990 first, second, and sixth-round picks (3 picks)
Minnesota’s 1991 first and second-round picks (2 picks)
Minnesota’s 1992 first, second, and third-round picks (3 picks)
Now, what about the Utah Jazz package for Rudy Gobert?
TImberwolves receive one player:
All-Star C Rudy Gobert
Jazz receive five players, four picks, and one pick swap:
PG Patrick Beverley
SG Malik Beasley
SF Leandro Bolmaro
PF Jarred Vanderbilt
C Walker Kessler
Minnesota’s 2023 first-round pick
Minnesota’s 2025 first-round pick
Minnesota’s 2027 first-round pick
Option to swap with Minnesota’s 2026 first-round pick
Minnesota’s 2029 first-round pick (Top-5 protected)
So they both look pretty devastating. So what is the difference?
Player Impact:
Let’s examine the impact of a running back In the Minnesota Vikings offense, Herschel Walker never exceeded 200 carries. The Vikings’ offense averaged over 1000 plays per season. So Walker was directly involved in just 20 percent of approximately 40 percent of the game’s outcome. (Defense at 40 percent and special teams at 20 percent). In rough math, that works out to just 8 percent of Herschel Walker directly involved in plays. And that was in a 16-game season. That works out to just 1.25 games.
Now let’s pivot to the NBA.
Rudy Gobert averages 30 minutes of play per game. A full regulation game consists of 48 minutes of regulation play. Since all five players on the basketball court are directly involved in both the offense and the defense, Rudy Gobert translates into being 62.5 percent involved in the outcomes of games he competes in. That has averaged out to just under 70 games per season, or 43.75 full games.
Draft impact:
If you examine the draft picks, the Vikings bared their cupboard for three years by surrendering both their first and their second-round picks for three consecutive seasons. In the Timberwolves trade, the Minnesota Timberwolves will have second-round picks throughout and will have first-round draft picks in 2024, 2026 (subject to a possible pick swap), and 2028.
While the duration of the trade lasts a bit longer, the effects are so diluted that there is both time and opportunity to reset the roster if need be.
The only similarities between the two trades come down to the fact that the team involved in the trade is from Minnesota and that the trade itself involved multiple picks and players. Hope this explanation helps to reassure some fans.