FC: Rudy Gobert
The linchpin of the NBA’s stingiest defense since the All-Star break is coming to knock down your buildings, eat your children, and steal your city’s food supply. I’ve delved into the Stifle Tower before, and you all know that opponents are shooting just 39 percent on shots near the basket when Gobert is around — the lowest mark among all rotation bigs.
Watching Utah try to squeeze out points with the Gobert–Derrick Favors big-man combo is one of the next great NBA adventures. The outcome will eventually determine the ceiling of this rising Jazz team. Utah has scored at a bottom-10 rate with that duo on the floor, and they’ve been even worse than that since dealing Enes Kanter.
Gobert and Favors are both at their best diving to the rim, and that doesn’t figure to change even as they each stretch their skill set. There are possessions in every Utah game when they collide in the paint.
But other such big-man combos have made it work. Both Gobert and Favors are comfortable facilitating from the elbow, and Favors has honed his midrange jumper and post game. Utah’s recent success with Rodney Hood in the starting lineup could hint at what might come if Utah can put enough playmakers on the floor with Gobert and Favors. Remember: Alec Burks will be back next season.
Gobert is a skilled passer on the move, and he has accepted the fact that he’s not going to touch the ball on offense much. Trey Burke passes to Gobert on only 8.8 percent of the pick-and-rolls they run together, one of the lowest figures in the league, according to SportVU data provided to Grantland. Gordon Hayward, by far Utah’s best offensive player, hits Gobert only about 13 percent of the time.
In the mold of Tyson Chandler, Gobert is a selfless space-sucker, and he appears OK with that. But when he does get the ball, he’s winding up to dunk from about a foot over the rim, and he wants to hurt you. Gobert has worked his way into the conversations about defensive player of the year, most improved player, and sixth man of the year.
