LOS ANGELES – Multiple times this offseason, Timberwolves President Tim Connelly said it was his hope Rudy Gobert would retire with the team.
Connelly and Gobert took a step toward making that a reality Tuesday night as Gobert agreed to a three-year, $110 million extension, a source confirmed.
The center will make $43.8 million this season, and the extension starts in 2025-26. He will decline a player option for $46.7 million he had after this season but will have a player option after the second year of this new contract, a source confirmed. ESPN first reported news of the deal.
“It was about finding a win-win situation,” Gobert said after Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers. “I’m happy here. My family’s happy here. I want to win a championship here. Also, my next year contract was really high. So being able to allow the team to keep our guys, that was the win for the Timberwolves. But being able to keep me for a longer term was great for both of us.”
Gobert, 32, is playing his third season in Minnesota after picking up his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award last season. His decline in salary for next season in favor of longer-term money could create a pathway for the Wolves to dip under the burdensome second apron of the salary cap, which they are exceeding this season. With that comes less punitive penalities under the collective bargaining agreement, should the Wolves stay under the second apron in future years, such as the Wolves not having draft picks frozen in trades several years into the future and not having those picks fall to the end of the first round.
The trade this offseason that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo also contributed to this, as it helped the Wolves save money in the short term while freeing up long-term roster flexibility as the team rid itself of four years of Towns’ supermax contract. This sort of roster flexibility was on Gobert’s mind when negotiating the deal, and he wanted to help the team with this goal.
“It’s about finding balance,” Gobert said. “Every year, every time I sign a contract I always try to leave a little bit for the team, be able to realize that I’m grateful being able to earn what I’m earning coming from where I come from. It’s an amazing blessing. At the same time being able to not be too greedy and leave some on the table for our competitiveness as a team. I think it’s important.”
Connelly is high on center Naz Reid, who he would like to have in a Wolves uniform after this season, when Reid has a player option. Gobert’s new deal creates a potential path for the Wolves to re-sign him should he decline a player option after this season.
