Basketball is a game of trade-offs, and no Minnesota Timberwolves player encapsulates this better than Rudy Gobert. Despite his historic defensive value, Gobert's lack of offensive impact has routinely caused problems for the Wolves. Even with LaMelo Ball in the mix, Gobert's offense has continued to cause problems for the Wolves.
Overall, he's averaging 8 points on 43.5 percent from the field. During the Timberwolves' 127-125 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Gobert's offensive limitations were on full display. He scored just five points on 0-for-9 shooting and recorded two turnovers. What's concerning is that this game continues a theme of Gobert struggling against teams with strong rim protection. Gobert was 0-for-2 from the field against the Miami Heat earlier this season.
With the Timberwolves trying to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, Gobert's offensive limitations are particularly worrisome. Relevantly, Gobert averaged 6.7 points on 45.5 percent shooting from the field in last year's playoff series against the Spurs, and the year before that he averaged 5.8 points on a better 52.5 percent clip. The point is thatGobert's offensive concerns are nothing new, and it's a concern that they're already popping up.
Rudy Gobert's offensive limitations are undeniable
There's no way around it: Gobert's touch around the rim is poor. If it's not a dunk, he struggles around the rim. What should be easy bunnies are frequent bricks for Gobert. While the easy solution should be to dunk, it's not realistic for him to dunk it on every play.
Of course, the other issue is Gobert's hands. He drops far too many passes, and in the past it's caused his teammates not to trust him and defenses to disrespect him. Gobert's two turnovers on Monday seem low, I'd be willing to bet that Ball was unfairly charged with some of these turnovers.
Against teams with good defensive centers, Gobert's lack of touch around the rim and lack of hands are more exploitable. Gobert is super physical on defense, but on offense it bothers him, and it leads to some major mistakes. That's a clear concern in the biggest moments.
I've heard people say that Gobert's teammates throw it low. Sure, that's part of it at times, but he doesn't always catch the high passes, either. Furthermore, these problems don't only show up on passes. With 18 seconds left in overtime on Monday's game, Gobert batted a missed shot to Peyton Watson. The Wolves were down by one, and this mistake essentially ended the game.
Simply put, Gobert needs to be better on offense.
Gobert's limitations may prove to be costly in the playoffs
As noted earlier, the Wolves are chasing the Thunder and Spurs. Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are both strong rim protectors, and I-Hart is super physical. Therefore, this matchup is a clear challenge for Gobert. And the Spurs have Victor Wembanyama; he's the best rim protector in the world.
We've established that Gobert has struggled against these teams in the past, and even with LaMelo this trend feels unlikely to change. Opposing teams can also get creative with how they cover Gobert.
Of course, they could simply have one of the bigs guard him, making it hard for him to catch the ball and finish. Conversely, they could put a smaller player on Gobert and in a position to rotate to the rim. Another possibility is that they disrespect him, doubling Anthony Edwards and LaMelo. This is especially practical on pick-and-rolls, and we've seen it in past years.
In any case, Gobert's poor hands and touch around the rim give teams an offensive weak link to expose—particularly over the course of a playoff series, as game-planning becomes more prevalent. The Timberwolves have a nearly flawless offense, and it's looked really good so far. Still, it only takes one weakness for this not to matter in high-leverage situations. Unfortunately, Gobert could be that weakness.
To be clear, only specific teams with poor rim protection can expose this problem. Again, though, the best teams have the personnel to expose Gobert's limitations. The championship is the standard for the Timberwolves, and it's unclear if they can get there given Gobert's offensive limitations.
Gobert is a historically great defender, a menace on the boards, and immensely important to a team with subpar frontcourt depth. The Timberwolves are one of the most balanced rosters, and they check a lot of championship boxes. In the end, though, this won't matter if Gobert can't provide more on offense.
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