To no surprise, the Timberwolves had three finalists named for league awards Sunday.
Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, Chris Finch named NBA award finalists
Rudy Gobert is trying to become the third player in NBA history to be named Defensive Player of the Year four times.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 22, 2024 at 11:55AM
Center Rudy Gobert is up for his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, going against Miami’s Bam Adebayo and San Antonio 7-foot-4 rookie Victor Wembanyama, the NBA announced. Gobert also won the award in 2018, ’19 and ’21 when he played for Utah. He finished in the top three in voting for the award six years in a row with the Jazz, but he was not a finalist after last season, his first with the Wolves.
If Gobert were to win the award, he would join fellow big men Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the league’s only four-time winners.
Forward Naz Reid is going against Sacramento’s Malik Monk and Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, and Chris Finch is facing Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault and Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley for Coach of the Year.
The MVP finalists are Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Nikola Jokic. Wembanyama is also a finalist for Rookie of the Year, along with Charlotte’s Brandon Miller and former Minnehaha Academy standout Chet Holmgren of the Thunder.
Both teams were returning from a break and showed it, but Jaden McDaniels' energy salvaged matters for Minnesota.
