The first game without Anthony Edwards didn’t go so well for the Minnesota Timberwolves. A 119-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors gave Minnesota their second straight loss and dropped their record to 3-2.
Obviously, other players need to shoulder more of the scoring load without Edwards and his 33.5 points per game. One player the Timberwolves would like to see score more is Rudy Gobert.
The 34-year-old had an ugly performance against the Warriors. In Year 14, questions are emerging about whether Gobert is declining, particularly on offense.
Gobert hasn’t made a field goal in 2 straight games
It’s only been five games. Remarkably, though, Gobert is 0-for-13 from the field in Minnesota’s last two outings. This comes from a player who led the league in field goal percentage for the fourth time in his career last season.
Playing against a team like Golden State should have given Gobert a chance to get right, since the Warriors have no one who can match his size. Instead, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year finished with one point in 20 minutes. The normal impact wasn’t there on the defensive end either, other than a block at the beginning of the game. Gobert was taken out with 8:16 remaining and didn’t come back until there were six seconds left.
Frankly, this performance is alarming, and it makes the age concerns only more relevant.
Chris Finch has always been a huge supporter of what Gobert brings to the club. Seeing him bench him down the stretch like he did Wednesday isn’t all that surprising, though, given how he was playing. The Timberwolves also trimmed down a 16-point deficit while he was off the floor.
A viral moment on the bench showed LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga both getting demonstrative while talking to Gobert. It’s unclear what they were talking about, but Gobert looked somewhat dejected.
Maybe it wasn’t a big deal, but it was interesting to see, though, since those two are nearly a decade younger than Gobert. It has also already sparked a lot of speculation about what they were talking about, since Gobert is struggling so much.
Scoring average continues to dip
Pick a random Timberwolves game from the start of this season, and you’ll have better than 50/50 odds that Gobert didn’t make a field goal. He’s now done so three times in the first five outings.
In 2025-26, Gobert averaged 10.9 points. That was his lowest scoring average since 2015-16. Over five games, he’s averaged 6.6 points per game this season.
The connection between him and Ball still hasn’t clicked. To be fair to Ball, it’s likely been hard for him to trust Gobert because he’s had so much trouble catching passes cleanly. Also, Gobert has had opportunities he normally finishes, but he just isn't doing so at the start of this season.
Gobert still has 77 regular season games left to turn things around. Perhaps he and Ball develop a chemistry that leads to at least a couple of easy made baskets a night. Until then, fans will understandably wonder whether Gobert is declining for age-related reasons. If so, expect more nights with Gobert at just 20 minutes.
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