Wolves' Rudy Gobert Is Only NBA Player on Top-15 Contract to Make Conference Finals

Employing the NBA's highest-paid players was not a formula for success during the 2023-24 season.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was the only player among the NBA's 15 highest-paid players to advance to the conference finals.

There is an amusing irony to that stat, given many would have pegged Gobert's as being the worst contract on that list coming into this season.

Instead, Gobert returned to form to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award and played a pivotal role in Minnesota's Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Gobert made four of his five shots—including a turnaround jumper—in the fourth quarter as the Wolves roared back from a 20-point deficit to earn a 98-90 win over the defending champs.

It's a bit jarring to see so many superstar-caliber veterans failing to make a deep run into the playoffs, with the 2024 postseason perhaps being the formal dawning of a new era.

Jayson Tatum (26), Luka Doncic (25), Tyrese Haliburton (24) and Anthony Edwards (22) are all leading their teams into the conference finals while elder statesmen like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have already been at home for weeks.

The modern NBA era may be more about parity and youth than singular superstars.