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Rudy Gobert Has Reportedly Caused Frustration Among His Teammates: “Wasn’t Game-Changing Like They Thought”

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ acquisition of Rudy Gobert during the summer was pretty straightforward. The experiment was to surround their offensive-minded players with one of the best defenders in the NBA, and basically hope that it would mask their flaws.

But after a little more than two months of action, the Timberwolves have found themselves with gaping holes on both sides of the ball, and Gobert hasn’t been the much-needed plug that the team thought he’d be coming into the season.

Granted that the 30-year old defensive center is still a double-double machine, he hasn’t really shown improvement from last season while looking like he has lost a step which feels disappointing for a player that was acquired for an insane haul of draft picks and depth.

As Gobert and the Wolves currently stare at a 17-21 record this season, NBA insider Brian Windhorst revealed that the three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner has caused frustration among Timberwolves fans and even his own teammates.

“They knew that Gobert had limitations,” Windhorst said. “They didn’t expect him to walk in and everything would be perfect. They knew it was going to take some time. But he has really frustrated the fans there and frustrated his teammates because earlier this season, he kept having turnovers.”

“They would run plays, pick-and-rolls for him and the ball would go through his hands. I don’t have the number in front of me to tell you how many of those turnovers he had, but for the Wolves and their fans, it felt like 100. There was some frustration there and then his defense was good, but wasn’t game-changing like they thought.”