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Par Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Journaliste sportif
Beaten to the punch by the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers realized that they couldn’t fight for the title without a solid pivot. An American journalist therefore suggested they pick up a certain… Rudy Gobert.
With their third-place finish in the West at the end of the regular season, they had lofty goals and thought they were capable of achieving them. But reality quickly caught up with them. Depopulated in the paint, the Lakers were clearly no match for the Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Their opponents had a field day in the paint, demonstrating their clear shortcomings in this sector.
This, of course, did not escape Rob Pelinka’s attention. In fact, the Angelino manager had already tried to attract an inside player at the trade deadline, in the person of Mark Williams. However, this abortive transfer ended up weighing down his team, whose need at the pivot position remains glaringly obvious today. It remains to be seen which player(s) available on the summer market will be able to meet these needs.
The trade that would send Rudy Gobert to the Lakers
Unsurprisingly, most of the recent Lakers rumors have concerned big men. But while two of them appear to be the favorites to land in their ranks, a surprise can’t be ruled out in this case. Bailey Bassett of ClutchPoints has prepared for this by putting together a hypothetical swap that would see Rudy Gobert join Los Angeles:
- The Los Angeles Lakers receive: Rudy Gobert, Josh Minott
- The Minnesota Timberwolves receive: Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber
The idea doesn’t actually seem that crazy, since Gobert meets many of the criteria laid down by the Purple & Gold on their roadmap.
Capable of single-handedly transforming a defense, the French international would clearly do the Lakers no harm in this area. He also poses a significant alley-oop threat on the other side of the court, and couldn’t be a better partner than Luka Doncic on offense. The fit seems almost perfect, even for the Timberwolves.
By letting Gobzilla go, Minnesota could guarantee Naz Reid a starting status next year and thus retain him. What’s more, this deal would enable the franchise to get its hands on another ball handler with notable offensive production, namely Austin Reaves. The kind of reinforcement that would take the team to the next level, according to one of its former members, and potentially to the title.
