'Wild turn of events' puts Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in NBA spotlight

There was a fundamental question that all sides needed to consider when the possibility arose that the Timberwolves could acquire center Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz.

"Could this work? Could Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns play together and succeed in an NBA that for more than a decade has gotten smaller and quicker?"

The basketball minds at Mayo Clinic Square had no hesitation.

"It seemed more of a dream than a reality," President Tim Connelly said.

"It was a no-brainer," coach Chris Finch said.

The only one who might have needed a little bit of time was Gobert.

He said when his agent told him the deal had been pitched, Gobert told him he needed time to think about it.

"I was thinking about it every day," Gobert said. "When I was going to bed I was thinking about it more and more. … That was probably the best, most exciting challenge for me, to pair with a guy like KAT and the whole organization like the Timberwolves that really wants to win and is willing to do whatever it takes to win."

"Whatever it takes" to land a three-time Defensive Player of the Year on July 1 included key contributors Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley and Jarred Vanderbilt, four future first-round picks, a pick swap, and a June first-round pick in center Walker Kessler.

The haul received a lot of flak from national media: The Wolves gave up way too much.

But the Wolves didn't care. They got the player they think could turn them into championship contenders.

"I love it," said Marc Lore, who is set to become controlling owner with Alex Rodriguez in late 2023. "I love the skepticism, you know? It makes us more of an underdog and it'll be that much more impactful when it works. … If we're all winning at the level we expect to win, it's not a lot of draft capital at the end of the day, given what it could mean to the team."

All involved have something to prove. Towns has never been out of the first round of the playoffs. Gobert hasn't been out of the second. And the Wolves, from the front office to ownership, have every incentive to make sure they didn't mortgage their future on a failed experiment.

After months of wondering "Could this work?", everyone gets their first clue to the answer with Wednesday's regular-season opener at Target Center against Oklahoma City.

"I didn't come here to have another good year and lose in the first, second round of the playoffs," Gobert said. "Tim didn't bring me here to do that. He brought me in to have these guys get to that championship level, myself get to that championship level."

Not 'on my bingo card'

Gobert and Towns, who missed the first part of training camp because of illness, still haven't practiced much together. Friday's preseason game was the first time they took the floor together for extended minutes.

The two never really seemed very friendly when they faced each other, and they were always competing for accolades such as All-Star or All-NBA honors.

In 2019, Gobert beat out Towns for the All-NBA third team slot at center, an honor that would have increased the value of Towns' contract by more than $30 million had he achieved it.

"That's a wild turn of events, being competitors like that against each other and now we're teammates," Towns said. "That wasn't on my bingo card this summer."

The two are now getting to know each other in a different light. After Friday's preseason game, Towns shouted an invitation across the locker room for Gobert to come to his house Saturday and hang out to watch some fights.

"He's been great," Gobert said. "He wants to win. What I love about Karl is that he really wants to see people around him have fun, too, and people around him win. … I think it's a trait winning players have."

Fitting together

For a long time, Finch said, the Wolves have discussed wanting to pair Towns with a rim-protecting center. That came with a caveat.

"I was always kind of unsure how that would affect KAT, his offense," Finch said. "Would it cannibalize him on offense? But when the guy you can get is the best in the league [at rim protection], there was really no hesitation."

Chances of landing Gobert seemed to wax and wane with each hour during June negotiations. The Wolves held firm on keeping Jaden McDaniels out of the trade despite Utah's efforts to pry him away. Connelly eventually struck to make the move because players of Gobert's talent level rarely become available.

"We put names on the board of what we thought were elite guys, of guys who were difference-makers, and it's a very small list," Connelly said. "… So when you're able to add a difference-maker and not trade a guy in that similar tier, it's so rare."

Trades, especially of this magnitude, need the co-signature of ownership, but Connelly didn't have to sell Lore on this one.

"Now is the time to make a move," Lore said. "We've got a really strong young team and it felt like one of the areas we were weakest was around rim protection and defense and it just felt like if we can add an All-Star, we had a real shot to go all the way."

In order to keep that shot over multiple years, it will likely require the Wolves going into the luxury tax to retain all their talent once Anthony Edwards and McDaniels begin their second contracts in two seasons. Are Lore and the rest of ownership prepared to pay the tax to keep the core together, if needed?

"There's nothing that's a hard-line yes or no there," Lore said. "I think it depends on circumstances, depends on what value you're getting for paying the tax. There are certain circumstances where it's going to make sense to pay the tax and other circumstances where it's not going to.

"But one thing we're looking to do for sure is to really invest in the foundation here so that this is not a couple years of a good run and then we're back to the basement."

Unlocking possibilities

Gobert and Towns say they believe they'll make each other better.

Towns said he thinks Gobert "has been underutilized for years" on offense, and he wants to unlock some of that potential with his ability to drive.

"That's the first thing that he told me after the trade is 'I know what you can do, and I'm gonna use you and look for you,'" Gobert said. "It was even for me surprising [on Friday night]. I got to get used to that and be even more aggressive flashing to the ball."

Towns thinks Gobert will do a good job of diverting attention.

"Gives me more of a chance to have those one-on-ones that I'm very deadly at," Towns said. "At same time, defensively it gives me the chance to be even more aggressive, play more on the ball, take a little more chances. He gives you that opportunity because you know that you have that kind of insurance policy behind you."

Finch has cautioned the Wolves defense simply can't be to plug Gobert near the rim, play drop coverage on screens and expect everything to work. Towns has to fight the urge to enter the lane more often. Guards have to defend screens differently than they did in the "high wall" approach that worked last season.

"It puts a lot more emphasis on them to be into the ball and winning their matchup," Finch said.

Great expectations

Offensively, Finch has orchestrated systems that involve two big men, most specifically in New Orleans, when he was an assistant the year the Pelicans made it to the second round of the playoffs with Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.

The most important thing for Towns and Gobert to figure out on offense, he said, is spacing, and that's what they have been drilling on in the little time they have worked together.

Then the team has to let the offense flow and not try to selfishly fill up the stat sheet.

"It's always a process through the first part of the season," Finch said. "That's twofold. One, it's guys learning each other. But it's also guys realizing that they don't have to be hunting their stuff. It will come."

Related to that, point guard D'Angelo Russell made a point after Friday's game to say this season was going to require sacrifice from everyone on the Wolves in the name of winning.

"You got so many alphas on the floor at the same time, I think it's a sacrifice mentality," Russell said. " … Some nights you might not dominate, we'll win. Some nights you dominate and we'll still win."

Team approach

Gobert was then asked if he thought the Wolves were capable of pulling that off.

"We won't have the choice," he said. "… There is no great thing that won't come without sacrifice. When you look at all the great teams in the NBA, you have guys that could have a bigger role on other teams that are not as good. But that comes with it. If we're not willing to embrace that, we're not going to go nowhere."

Just where will they go? Most national pundits don't seem to think they will be hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy anytime soon.

Lore has set his expectations for now on getting out of the first round, because after that, "anything can happen" in the playoffs, he said.

"I think it's safe to say we'd be disappointed with making the playoffs and exiting after the first round," Lore said. "So for starters, advancing to the second round at a minimum. From there, it really depends on lots of factors."

Before getting there, the Wolves are cautioning everyone they won't look like a finished product in Game 1.

"It's not going to be pretty off the bat when you're trying to integrate so many new faces," Connelly said. "We think, as these guys get to know each other, they have the potential to be a pretty special duo, and a duo that will lead us to places we haven't been in a long, long time."

That's not a high bar to clear, given the Wolves have made the conference finals only once in their existence. But neither have Towns and Gobert. After their individual accolades, they are taking on this new chapter as one of the most unlikely duos in modern NBA history.

"Me and him talk about it constantly," Towns said. "About what we can do to be better players, what can we do to help this team, what can we do as leaders to motivate and push these guys to another level they may not know they have."