Timberwolves sweep of Suns showed why many basketball analyst were wrong about Rudy Gobert trade

When the Timberwolves traded the world for massive center Rudy Gobert, and announced that he would play alongside All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, respected basketball analysts suggested that going big was an outdated philosophy.

Their point: You win with guards and wings, and three-point shooting. The NBA was dominated by players like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Steph Curry.

Sunday night, the Wolves swept a playoff series for the first time in their history, and they did so against a team built around three perimeter players — the great Kevin Durant, the irrepressible Devin Booker and the pouty Bradley Beal.

The analysts made two mistakes in their judgment of the Gobert trade and the Wolves roster:

1. They discounted the importance of rebounding and defense. The Wolves were terrible at both before Gobert arrived. He helped fix both problems.

2. They assumed that the presence of large players would lessen the importance of rising star Anthony Edwards, and conflict with Towns.

The Wolves went big, and they didn’t go home. Thanks to coach Chris Finch, they proved able to be a dominant defensive team, a tremendously improved rebounding team, and also a team that fully encourages Edwards to be their best player.

The Wolves won 122-116 on Sunday night, and the three players most impacted by the Gobert trade — Edwards, Towns and Gobert — turned in clutch performances.

Towns kept the Wolves alive until their offense woke up in the third quarter, finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Gobert had a quiet night offensively but once again anchored the NBA’s best defense.

And Edwards played like a superstar, producing 40 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. He scored 31 points in the second half, and all but ended the game with a tomahawk dunk over Beal and a ducking Durant late in the fourth quarter.

After the game ended, Edwards hugged Durant, his boyhood idol, just before the TNT crew began praising him.

Shaquille O’Neal whistled. And Charles Barkley, one of the loudest critics of the Gobert trade, raved about the Wolves as a team and Edwards as a star. ``Ant’s ready,” Barkley said.

Edwards came on screen and repeated his new mantra: ``I want to kill everyone in front of me.”

Next up, probably: The defending champion Denver Nuggets.

Game 4 often felt more like football than basketball. In the fourth quarter alone, Finch got run over by point guard Mike Conley and suffered what appeared to be a serious leg injury. He was moved from the bench and assistant Micah Nori finished the final 1:41 in his stead.

Edwards, who had slightly sprained his left ankle earlier in the game, sprained his right ankle, and lay on the court, before recovering and finishing the game.

But it was the Suns who got bullied.

In the four-game series, the Wolves grabbed 185 rebounds. The Suns managed 130.

The Suns finally played with desperation, with Durant and Booker displaying their full array of shots and skills, but their team lacked depth and size.

Those who assumed that true centers were no longer viable options for championship teams overlooked the constant evolution of the game.

They also overlooked that two of the past four NBA champions featured All-NBA centers — the Lakers and Anthony Davis in 2020 and the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic last year.

Monday, the Nuggets will try to close out the Lakers and turn to the Wolves, who acted at the end of Game 4 as if they were much more interested in game-planning than celebrating.

It’s almost laughable now to look back at criticisms of the Gobert trade. None of the players the Wolves gave up are impact players, and the draft picks the Wolves gave up aren’t important to a team with so much depth.

Yes, Towns and Gobert can play together, and exceptionally well.

No, Towns shouldn’t have been shipped out because he was overpaid, or couldn’t be trusted in big games, or couldn’t play alongside Gobert.

No, neither the presence of Gobert or Towns in any way limited Edwards’ ability to lead and star.

We know dysfunction when we see it.

With this team, we never see it.

Whatever happens against the Nuggets, this team has proven itself.

Because it has proven itself, something quite fascinating could happen against a truly great Nuggets team.

The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.