Do the Timberwolves already regret the Rudy Gobert trade? Why Minnesota's experiment is off to shaky start

Trading Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves was supposed to be the start of a hard reset for the Jazz.

Guess what? Ahead of Gobert's return to Utah on Friday, the Jazz actually have a better record than the Timberwolves.

That speaks to a couple of things. One, how much more competitive the Jazz have been than expected, sparked by Lauri Markkanan going from a glorified role player to a legitimate All-Star candidate. Two, how up and down of a season it's been to date for the Timberwolves, who clearly have a lot more figuring out to do.

Let's revisit the trade before getting into some of the problems the new-look Timberwolves are dealing with.

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What did the Timberwolves trade for Rudy Gobert?

Gobert did not come cheap. In addition to five players, the Jazz traded the three-time Defensive Player of the Year to the Timberwolves for one pick swap and four first-round picks, three of which are unprotected, meaning Utah will receive Minnesota's pick no matter where it lands in the first round. The other pick is top-five protected.

Here are the full details of the trade:

• Timberwolves got: Rudy Gobert
• Jazz got: Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, 2023 first-round pick (unprotected), 2025 first-round pick (unprotected), 2026 first-round pick swap, 2027 first-round pick (unprotected), 2029 first-round pick (top-five protected)

At the time, TSN's Steph Noh gave the Timberwolves a B- grade for the deal and the Jazz an A. He noted how it was a "massive haul" to give up for Gobert and that the Timberwolves were betting that they'll remain a playoff team through the end of the decade.

With that in mind...

How have the Timberwolves played so far with Rudy Gobert?

The Timberwolves have been a middle-of-the-road team through the first month of the season.

Entering their matchup with Utah, Minnesota has a 12-12 record while ranking 17th in offensive efficiency and 15th in defensive efficiency. For comparison, the Timberwolves finished last season ranked seventh in offense and 13th in defense.

The slip offensively isn't a huge surprise, but the acquisition of Gobert was supposed to make the Timberwolves much better defensively, not worse.

There are a few things in particular the Timberwolves are struggling with:

1. 3-point shooting. Only four teams are shooting worse from 3 than the Timberwolves right now. Both D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns are well below their career average, and Anthony Edwards has been quite up and down. With Jaden McDaniels being a limited shooter and Gobert not being a threat outside of the paint, the starting five's spacing can easily get cramped.
2. Opponent 3-point shooting. To rub salt in the wound, teams are shooting the lights out from the perimeter against the Timberwolves. Luck could have something to do with that, but a team featuring Gobert and Towns isn't exactly built to contain 3-point shooting.
3. Defensive rebounding. An odd stat: Gobert is among the league leaders in rebounds, and yet the Timberwolves are one of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the NBA. To no surprise, teams are feasting on second-chance opportunities.
4. Turnovers. The Timberwolves are coughing the ball up at an astronomical rate. The result? There aren't many teams giving up as many points off of turnovers and fastbreak opportunities as the Timberwolves on a per-game basis. Their effort in transition has waxed and waned.

Overall, the Gobert era is off to a clunky start for the Timberwolves. Gobert himself hasn't been quite as dominant as in years past — his points, rebounds, blocks, usage and shooting percentage are all down from his All-Star seasons in Utah — but he's far from the only reason for the team's struggles. Edwards hasn't taken the leap many were expecting him to, Russell has been inconsistent and now Towns is out with an injury.

MORE: Latest updates on KAT's injury

Even before Towns got injured, the Timberwolves performed like three different teams. The numbers point to them being bad offensively but good defensively with Towns and Gobert on the court, elite offensively but awful defensively with only Towns, and good defensively but awful offensively with only Gobert.

All three combinations have a negative net rating, too.

Gobert has a player option in his contract for the 2025-26 season and Towns has one for 2027-28. Unless the Timberwolves decide to trade one of them, this is only the beginning of what could be a long partnership.

Do the Timberwolves already have buyer's remorse?

It's still too soon to truly evaluate this trade, but it's fair to say the Timberwolves haven't gotten off to the start they expected.

“We’ve seen moments we look really good and moments we haven’t,” Wolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly recently told The Athletic. “If you were to ask me two months ago when the season started, we thought we’d be a little further ahead of the curve.”

There's still a lot to figure out as well. First and foremost, the Timberwolves have to weather the storm while Towns is sidelined, which could be another four weeks. Again, Minnesota has held up well defensively with only Gobert, but points have been hard to come by. Secondly, the Timberwolves are going to have to integrate Towns back into the lineup when he returns from injury, which could also take some time.

Fortunately for the Timberwolves, the Western Conference is so jumbled right now that only a handful of games separate them from the No. 1 seed, but a few more wins isn't going to solve their biggest issues.