Will Timberwolves Gobert return injured from World Cup competition again?

We know that the Minnesota Timberwolves supports All-Star NBA center Rudy Gobert’s decision to compete for France in the World Cup basketball competition this summer. The thing is, they would rather that he didn’t. And if we are being honest with ourselves, that is the consensus of his teammates and Timberwolves fans as well.

But the Timberwolves are sending four players to the World Cup competition this year, and each player will compete for four different national teams. SG Anthony Edwards will compete for the USA team.  Of course, C Rudy Gobert will compete for France, again. Center Luka Garza will compete for Bosnia. And finally, Nickeil Alexander-Walker will compete for Canada.

Should fans worry about a World Cup injury to Rudy Gobert this year?

And yet, most of the questions about the World Cup competition focused on Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert. Like this one:

But is that something Timberwolves fans should fret over?

Well, thankfully, a lot has changed over the course of a year. For starters, this is the 2023-24 NBA season in the front windshield, and this is a new Minnesota Timberwolves roster as a result.

Still, once bitten twice shy, or something like that, right? We know that the Minnesota Timberwolves, despite all of the preseason anticipation and hype, stumbled out of the gates to open the 2022-23 NBA season and never truly seemed to get their feet under them all season long.

Unfortunately, the minor injury to newcomer All-Star center Rudy Gobert had a great deal to do with that sputtering start. So why will things be any different this year? We have three quick reasons to help assuage your fears.

III: Rudy Gobert has a season with the Timberwolves under his belt

Unlike the 2022-23 NBA season, Rudy Gobert has a year under his belt already. While that may not seem like much of a big deal to fans, for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Timberwolves roster, it’s quite a big deal.

You see, while this year everyone is somewhat familiar with the capabilities and limits of Gobert and his impact on the Timberwolves roster, a year ago everything about Rudy Gobert was conceptual. Certainly, there were some educated guesses about what Gobert could deliver to the Timberwolves roster, but that fell into three categories: WAG (Wild Arsed Guessing), SWAG (Scientific Wild Arsed Guessing), or reserved optimism.

Timberwolves coaches faced a lot of challenges

The Timberwolves coaching staff speculated about rotations and complementary players who would be more adept at not only playing in the same five-man rotation.  As the season progressed, even those modest goals were chucked out the window as the coaches had to determine which of the players on the Timberwolves roster could simply suit up and play in any given game.

There is no strategy on the fly, and the Timberwolves players were all thrown into the 2022-23 NBA season with a rather ambitious expectation that everyone would figure it all out. The players may have done exactly that, given enough time. But All-Star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns fell to an injury that would bench him for 53 games. Backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin would soon follow. Backup power forward Taurean Prince would fall to injury as well. Then, amidst all of the other chaos, point guard D’Angelo Russell announced that he has uncomfortable with the point guard role.

The Timberwolves coaches were saturated with roster challenges, which negated any chance to adapt to or improve the play on the basketball court.

II: Four Timberwolves players are competing this year

Even if the Minnesota Timberwolves continue to harbor reservations about Rudy Gobert’s participation, it’s awfully difficult to harness his aspirations to represent his native country of France, while three other Timberwolves players are competing for their countries this year.

Why allow anyone to compete? While it may seem unimportant to fans, the opportunity to compete on a national team is one of the highlights of any player’s basketball career. Hearing family and friends cheering them on as they compete for national pride, honor, and respect, is something that many cultures and ethnicities still cherish.

But what about the Timberwolves organization? Are there any benefits to the team going forward?

Don’t discount the benefits of motivated players

While you may not immediately think about it, motivation is a difficult force to harness for an NBA team among the players. Oftentimes, fans tend to view the money earned as motivation. But does it really serve that purpose? In my career, money only motivated me when I was already discontented with my job and wanted to seek new opportunities.

Motivation for NBA players comes in many forms, but the key ingredient is opportunity. The opportunity to compete with fellow countrymen for international recognition is a huge motivator. But beyond that, there is more at play as well.

NBA players, like actors and musicians, tend to be cast into roles that everyone recognizes and is familiar with. But on the international stage, players have new coaches, and new opportunities, and can reshape their roles into unfamiliar areas.  Rudy Gobert could work on and demonstrate a perimeter shot. Anthony Edwards may become a secondary ball-handler who can play as a point guard in a pinch. International competition can expand and develop basketball players in ways that the NBA cannot.

I: Veteran PG Mike Conley Jr. knows how to involve Rudy Gobert in the offense

Perhaps the greatest difference in a year’s time is the fact that the Minnesota Timberwolves have veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr. running the floor. While some view Conley as just one more aging veteran who will need to be replaced sooner than later, he has proven to be far more vital to the Timberwolves roster.

When the Timberwolves traded D’Angelo Russell for PG Mike Conley Jr., SG Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and three second-round draft picks, the chemistry on the Timberwolves roster was barely a factor. D’Lo was not only unhappy as a point guard for the Timberwolves, but he was openly critical of Gobert and was not shy about making comments on the basketball court and in the locker room. For a Timberwolves roster that needed to gel, D’Angelo Russell was a huge factor that prevented that from happening.

Here comes the Conley Jr. cavalry

When Conley Jr. arrived on the Timberwolves roster, he had been incredibly effective in distributing the basketball for the Utah Jazz, averaging 7.7 assists per game, which at the time was a career-high. But his scoring had fallen to just 10.7 points per game, his lowest average since his rookie season.

Ironically, his statistics flipped in the 24 regular season games that he played for the Timberwolves. He averaged 14.0 points per game, an average that bested his four-year average for the Utah Jazz. But his assists dropped to 5.0 assists per game, one of his lower averages. But when it came to the NBA Playoffs, he managed to score 12.0 points per game, while improving his assists to 6.4 assists per game. Both numbers were significant improvements over his 2022 NBA Playoffs performance.

Yes, there are risks in any basketball competition, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have four players who will be competing this year. But unlike the beginning of the 2022-23 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are firmly set in terms of their top seven or eight players this season. In the end, the difference is the continuity.

Good luck, Rudy, Ant, NAW, and Luka!  And have no fear, when you are done competing against one another for the World Cup, Minnesota Timberwolves fans will welcome you all back with open arms.