If Minnesota Makes Rudy Gobert Available, The Hawks Become A Logical Landing Spot

The Atlanta Hawks are entering the 2026 offseason with some obvious holes on their roster, despite the good end to the season that they had after the All-Star Break (20-6 finish, lost in six games to the Knicks) and one of those holes is with their size at center and their interior defense.

This is not meant to be anything negative to Onyeka Okongwu, who had a terrific season for the Hawks and improved in a lot of ways, particularly with his three-point shooting. This is more of a comment on the Hawks roster, as they don't have any interior size and rim protection, which showed up in their series loss to the Knicks.

There is one player who could really help the Hawks with this and it is a player that Atlanta head coach Quin Snyder is familiar with.

Minnesota came up short in the Western Conference playoffs, losing in six games to the San Antonio Spurs, and while that is nothing to be ashamed of by any stretch, the Spurs and Thunder are not going anywhere, have elite rosters, and plenty of draft assets to continue to build. Minnesota has Anthony Edwards, but the rest of the roster is older, and they have little draft capital to acquire talent. That is putting players like Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert in the spotlight with the potential to be moved, and NBA insider Jake Fischer had this to say about Gobert:

“Rudy Gobert, as much as he's been an absolute floor raiser that helped Minnesota win significant games in the regular season year after year, his shortcomings offensively have been shown. He had a good series with Nikola Jokic this spring, but I do think there are starting to be some questions in Minnesota about the viability of Gobert long-term."

Gobert has been fantastic for the Wolves since being traded from Utah and Minnesota has had one of the best defenses in the league, largely due to Gobert being able to patrol the paint. He has one year left on his contract at $36.5 million and then a $38 million player option for 2027-2028.

I think that the Hawks make a lot of sense for Gobert if they opt to move him, which I am still skeptical that they will.

The obvious connection for Gobert and the Hawks is Quin Snyder. During Gobert's best seasons with the Utah Jazz, Snyder was the coach, and Utah had some of the best defenses in the NBA during that time. They were overly reliant on Gobert for their defense, and things never worked out in the playoffs, but the familiarity that those two have with each other would make this a seamless transition

Gobert would be the perfect center to pair with Okongwu and his ability to protect the rim would make the Hawks one of the top defenses in the NBA. Atlanta has two elite perimeter defenders in Dyson Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, something Utah did not have.

The fit is not perfect, though, and the reason I am skeptical this would come to fruition would be the spacing and offensive issues that could arise with Daniels and Gobert on the floor at the same time. Daniels is a very good player with one obvious flaw: his shooting. Could the Hawks make it work with Daniels and Gobert on the floor at the same time? Daniels excelled when he could be paired with Onyeka Okongwu, but having two non-shooters on the floor would make things tough for the Hawks, especially in the playoffs.

If Daniels were to take a step forward shooting, that would make things easier for the Hawks, but that of course is far from a guarantee.

How could the Hawks acquire Gobert? That is also a difficult question to answer. Because he is still an elite rim protector and defender, it won't be for super cheap, but his age is not going to be appealing to teams. Also, the Hawks are not going to give up major assets to acquire Gobert. Would the Timberwolves be interested in what Atlanta has to offer?

I think it is a longshot that Gobert ends up on the Hawks, mainly due to trade cost, but he will be connected to Atlanta if he is truly available and the fit makes plenty of sense.

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