One opposing team appears to be serious as sin when it comes to pursuing Rudy Gobert this offseason.
Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported on Tuesday that league personnel believe that the Atlanta Hawks could make a significant trade offer to the Utah Jazz for the former Defensive Player of the Year Gobert. Fischer adds that it may some combination of Clint Capela, John Collins, Kevin Huerter, and the No. 16 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Gobert, 29, will be entering the second season of a five-year, $205 million supermax contract. There are serious doubts right now about his future with the Jazz, and that potential trade package from Atlanta would be a juicy one. Capela is a double-double machine who led the NBA in rebounding last year. Collins and Huerter are also a couple of quality under-25 players with 15-to-17 point-per-game upside (not to mention the Hawks’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft).
Atlanta was a bottom-five defense this season, and something clearly has to be done about their performance on that end of the floor. Besides Gobert, the Hawks are also reportedly eyeing another major impact defender.
