The Minnesota Timberwolves needed to be able to contend in the present. That's the simple fact that must be acknowledged in any conversation about whether or not Minnesota truly overpaid for Rudy Gobert. Staggering as the number of outgoing draft picks proved to be, the goal was always to improve in the now.
The Gobert trade and that undervalued reality took center stage yet again at the dawn of free agency, when the Utah Jazz parted with the prized player Minnesota was said to have given up on too soon: Walker Kessler.
Kessler is an excellent interior anchor who offers significant value and still has youth on his side. He's now projected to make just under $6.3 million less than Gobert, however, who is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Kessler will make that salary as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers after the Jazz agreed to a sign-and-trade that netted them another return that's based on long-term value.
BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers are acquiring Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz for unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030, sources tell ESPN. Kessler will sign a massive four-year, $130 million deal with the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/rt8b17fEQZ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2026
Utah didn't necessarily make a mistake by trading Gobert or Kessler, but their activity hammers home the point: Minnesota won the trade not by comparison, but by prioritization.
Jazz trading Walker Kessler proves the Rudy Gobert trade was always about priorities
Utah may very well turn the assets it received from the Kessler trade, as well as its two remaining incoming picks from Minnesota, into pivotal players. If it does, then more power will go to them as a fellow winner of the Gobert trade.
What critics continuously overlook, however, is that one team winning a trade doesn't necessarily mean that another team lost it. In this case, both sides got exactly what they wanted.
The Timberwolves have made more Conference Finals appearances since trading for Gobert than they'd made in the franchise's previous 34 years of existence combined. They won a grand total of two playoff series during those 34 seasons and have already won five since trading for Gobert.
In other words: Minnesota's goal of escaping the depths of despair and becoming a postseason factor has been achieved. And the Jazz's recent activity only further proves how different their priorities were and continue to be.
Jazz needed a brighter future, Timberwolves needed to win now
Furthermore, Minnesota hasn't exactly been devoid of opportunities to turn the NBA Draft into depth or even star power. In fact, it's had at least one first-round pick in each of the past three years. Some of those picks and players have been traded, but the assets were available for Tim Connelly to utilize.
What Minnesota has simultaneously done as well as any franchise in the NBA is strengthen its core through the trade market and give Anthony Edwards a chance to win in the present.
Perhaps the Jazz will make out like bandits in the end and become a world-beating force with the assets it acquired or flipped from the Gobert trade. Minnesota simply didn't have the same needs in the moment, nor did it lack a franchise player to begin with. As such, holding it to the same team-building standards is only possible if one willfully chooses to ignore context.
Utah may have won the Gobert trade in its own way, but Minnesota were winners, as well, as they got exactly what they traded for: A chance to win now instead of relying on long-term assets.
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