What is Rudy Gobert's contract with Minnesota Timberwolves? Breakdown of salary, duration and more
Rudy Gobert signed a new contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. Gobert was initially signed to a five-year deal worth $205 million, inclusive of a player option in the 2025-26 season. However, the Wolves big man declined the option and instead signed a fresh new multi-year deal with Minnesota.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Timberwolves offered Gobert a three-year contract extension worth $110 million. With Karl-Anthony Towns no longer part of its roster, it makes sense for Minnesota to secure last season's Defensive Player of the Year as its rim protector.
Gobert's new contract, which includes a player option in the final year of the deal, will last until the 2027-28 season. That means there's a possibility Gobert could play for the Wolves only until the 2026-27 season before heading to free agency.
Based on his salary, Rudy Gobert is expected to make an average of $36.6 million a year. It's slightly lower compared to his initial contract, wherein he made an average of $41 million per year.
Looking at Rudy Gobert's new role with Minnesota
For the last couple of seasons, Gobert shared the paint with Karl-Anthony Towns as the Timberwolves' twin towers. Both bigs provided defense inside the paint, with Towns having a more offense-oriented game. Despite teaming with another big, Gobert still secured his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.
Looking at his defensive stats last season, the towering Frenchman had 9.2 defensive rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. His defensive efforts helped Minnesota secure the third seed in the Western Conference, which ultimately led to a Western Conference finals appearance.
However, with Towns now playing for the New York Knicks, Gobert's workload inside the paint might increase. Gobert is now the only star center on the team, meaning that the Timberwolves are likely to involve him in more offensive plays.
While he technically has backup centers to help support him, his elite experience is something that Minnesota will likely lean toward when creating plays inside.
With Towns now out of the picture, the Minnesota Timberwolves are more than likely to invest in building a team around their franchise cornerstone Anthony Edwards. Ant-Man is one of the most explosive stars in the NBA today, and it will be interesting to see how Edwards, Gobert and the Timberwolves fare this season.