The Minnesota Timberwolves knew they would get world-class defense when they acquired Rudy Gobert in the 2022 off-season. Therefore, most of the uncertainty about Gobert surrounded his offensive impact. How were the Wolves going to align lineups and proper spacing with two 7-footers, Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, playing most of their minutes together?
The Gobert experiment started slowly because it became increasingly difficult for Gobert’s teammates to unlock his abilities offensively. Gobert was supposed to have a seamless fit with D’Angelo Russell. The Frenchman was supposed to be DLo’s first real PnR big-man partner since he left Brooklyn. Russell thrived with Jarrett Allen when they played for the Brooklyn Nets.
Allen was a lob threat for Russell, someone to help him get open looks off the dribble. While DLo often scored on his own in these situations, he rarely set Rudy up offensively. Gobert often couldn’t catch DLo’s passes. Russell’s lobs were not high enough or at his knees on bounce passes as the roll man. It did not go quite as planned.
Recognizing that this pairing wasn’t working, Tim Connelly moved to acquire Mike Conley at the trade deadline. Conley had played with Gobert during the Utah Jazz’s successful run in the mid- to late-2010s. Connelly and the front office likely knew how important it was to get their blockbuster acquisition more involved. By adding Conley, the Wolves were trying to create more cohesion so that the offense could better flow.
Conley and Rudy picked up right up where they left off. Conley helped unlock Gobert offensively by using a lot of empty-corner PnRs.
By using his floater, passing ability to find the opposite corner shooter if the low-man defender helps, and throwing proper passes to Gobert, Conley unlocked more within the half-court offense. We saw glimpses of this after the trade deadline. However, Conley and Gobert still had some tweaks to work out as the Wolves moved into a fresh season with the core in place.
Getting a proper read on Gobert’s inclusion in Minnesota’s offense was hard. Towns missed 52 games with injury, and he was not playing in his form when he returned. They simply needed a larger sample size.
But things improved in Year 2, when Gobert and Towns finally had an off-season, preseason, and a handful of games to begin the season together.
While most people expected Conley would open up Rudy offensively, KAT has also been creating scoring opportunities for Rudy. Towns and Gobert are tied for second in the league in alley-oops between a duo. They have connected on 10 lobs, only behind Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively and Conley and Gobert. That highlights how frequently the Wolves have found Rudy as a lob threat and how incredible the KAT and Gobert connection has been considering their heights. KAT has done a great job finding Rudy when he drives to the rim off the dribble.
Through the first 20 games of the season, Rudy has converted 29 alley-oops, which puts him on pace for 119 converted alley-oops this year. He only converted on 76 total last season. Rudy has been a fantastic lob threat. But the Wolves will have plenty of high-percentage looks around the rim if he maximizes his height and dunking ability.
The Timberwolves used Gobert’s size to their advantage in the Charlotte Hornets game. He had 8 dunks and totaled 26 points in the game. Much of it came on dribble penetration or Rudy being the roll man. It’s easy to see how improved the Wolves have become at passing in his direction. He often draws a foul after sealing a smaller man below him under the basket when he does not get the dunk. Teams would rather send him to the free-throw line than allow the easy points.
Naturally, there is a lot of focus on Gobert’s offensive transformation. But the chief concern from Rudy’s impact was whether Anthony Edwards could better use Gobert to his advantage. Ant is still developing as a passer and PnR ball-handler, and he must maximize his teammates to the extent he can. There’s still a long way to go, but we have seen more important flashes of him trusting Rudy as the roll man or using his screens to open up his own shots. We have seen more connections between the two this season, but there is still room for growth.
Using Rudy as the screener is a fantastic way to keep him involved. The more successful Gobert is rolling toward the rim, the more the defense will have to collapse. That will open up shots along the perimeter for others.
Luckily for the Timberwolves, though, they have found their connections between Gobert and the point guard. They’ve also allowed a better fit between KAT and Rudy, making it more likely that Ant and Gobert will develop chemistry. Ultimately, the Wolves will give Edwards and Gobert’s connection more time to develop. The most important factors have already been covered and are looking like a strength of this offense and only improving the team more as a unit on that side of the ball.