Let’s call a spade a spade, the first 20+ games of Rudy Gobert’s Minnesota Timberwolves tenure were a bit rocky. The team that came into the season with expectations of winning ~50 games started off the year playing disinterested, lifeless, lazy basketball. Occam’s Razor pointed the finger at the trade that sent out Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley — three guys that, above all else, play with effort every night. It made the Gobert trade an easy target in general.
On top of that, Gobert’s performances were up-and-down. There were some highs, like the season-opener in which Gobert scored 23 points and snagged 16 rebounds against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the production felt forced as teammates broke the flow of the offense to feed him for an awkward post-up.