Rudy Gobert Proving to Be Best Young Prospect on Utah Jazz Roster
The Utah Jazz have been active NBA draft-lottery participants over the past four years. From Alec Burks and Enes Kanter in 2011, to trading up for Trey Burke at No. 9 in 2013, to taking the prized guard out of Australia, Dante Exum, No. 5 last June—the Jazz have a number of young prospects who required high-value picks.
Go figure—I'm not sure any of them will be as good as sophomore Rudy Gobert, the No. 27 pick in 2013 who general manager Dennis Lindsey acquired in a trade for a second-rounder and cash.
What a find Gobert was. Only he didn't exactly come out of nowhere. This isn't a guy who simply slipped through the cracks.
He was regarded as one one of the top young prospects in Europe even before his final season playing in French Pro A. At one point, we (and others) had him pegged as a possible top-10 pick nine months prior to the draft.
Gobert's 7'1" frame and unheard of 7'9" wingspan had been well-documented since Eurocamp 2012. But apparently, not too many teams thought the potential reward was worth the time he would take to develop. They were wrong.
Gobert is impacting games in just his second year in the league. And that's without a jumper or many post moves, which he could potentially add over time.
He's currently sporting the fifth-highest block percentage of any second-year player in NBA history, per Sports-Reference.com.
Between his size, mobility and unprecedented length, Gobert gives Utah an edge. Nobody else has a guy who can cover this much ground and air space around the basket.
Based on what we've seen so far and the assumption he only gets better in time, Gobert has flashed the potential to emerge as one of the game's elite rim protectors.
Halfway through the season, Gobert is the only NBA big man forcing opponents to shoot below 40 percent at the rim (minimum six attempts). A few of the other top defenders like Serge Ibaka, Roy Hibbert, Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan see a few more attempts per game, but the eye-test results rule out Gobert's numbers as flukey.
| Opponents FG Percentage at the Rim | Opponents FG Attempts at the Rim | |
| Rudy Gobert | 37.7 percent | 6.9 |
| Serge Ibaka | 40.2 percent | 8.1 |
| Roy Hibbert | 40.4 percent | 8.0 |
| Andrew Bogut | 40.8 percent | 7.4 |
| Dwight Howard | 44.9 percent | 8.2 |
| Tim Duncan | 46.2 percent | 9.1 |
You'd like to think Gobert's emergence could mean goodbye to impending restricted free agent Kanter, who hasn't moved the needle on offense and gives back way too much on defense (opponents shoot 59.4 percent on Kanter at the rim).
Quite frankly, of all of Utah's young prospects (not including Gordon Hayward or Derrick Favors, who are established), Gobert is the only one I can say with confidence looks like a guaranteed keeper and cornerstone.
Burke has regressed after an unconvincing rookie season, Burks, the $42 million man, is out for the year after shoulder surgery and Exum, as young and inexperienced as he is, has struggled.
In terms of upside and ceilings, it's still Exum who's got the highest—he's just so far away from reaching it, making him tougher to label and project.
There's no mystery surrounding Gobert—at least not anymore. Playing consistent full-time minutes (29.9 per game in January) for the first time, he's put up terrific numbers over the past month:
| 10 | 9.6 | 63.6 percent | 9.0 | 2.0 | 3.9 |
Gobert has been a monster around the rim, whether it's as a finisher, rebounder or shot-blocker.
But he does serve an offensive purpose, even without the skill set or polish.
Other than being a target in the pick-and-roll and drive-and-dump game, Gobert's physical tools and activity have translated to 31 tips or putbacks on the year.
He's also flashed some impressive passing instincts, having dished out at least three assists in five of his last six games (as of January 22). Despite how limited he is as a one-on-one threat, his feel for the game is evident, which is encouraging from a developmental standpoint moving forward.
At this point, he's stuck to his strengths, considering 167 of his 168 shot attempts this year have come in the paint. But there's still plenty of room left for him to grow into a capable low-post threat.
"Good news is that Gobert has nowhere to go but up with his offensive skills.
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 19, 2015"
"I'm trying to get better and I'm trying to be better offensively," Gobert told Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. "If I'm more aggressive on offense I hope that can help the team win more games."
Either way, whether Gobert's offense comes around or not, it's pretty obvious Utah has found one of the game's true secret weapons.
Over the past few years, the Jazz have added a number of promising prospects through the draft. And it's Gobert who's surprisingly emerged as the first true jackpot hit.
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