Rudy Gobert, Two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year has signed a five-year contract extension with the Utah Jazz reportedly worth $205 million.
It is reported All-NBA big man will sign the third-largest deal in NBA history just behind Buck’s Antentokounmpo freshly signed 5-year $206.8 million and currently signed Westbrook with Washington Wizards previously signed with OKC in 2017.
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) December 20, 2020
Gobert, who was in his final year from his previous contract, has been an All-NBA selection in three of the past four seasons and was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Overall Rudy averaged 14.7 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game during his Utah Jazz ongoing career.
Gobert said he did not request the full supermax in negotiations in order to leave cap space for Utah to build a title-contending team around Jazz PG Donavan Mitchell.
“For me, my goal is to always win a championship,” he told ESPN.
“When we spoke with my agent before the negotiations started, I decided that I didn’t want to ask for the supermax.
“We didn’t want to start the negotiations by asking for the supermax.
“For me, it was important to show to the organization and show to the team that it wasn’t about money. It was about continuing to build what we’ve been building and also give this team and give myself the stability and the peace of mind to not have to deal with the negotiations later.
“I want to win, and I feel like leaving this money on the table for the team just to be able to have better talent around me and Donovan [Mitchell] was really important. I want to win, and I believe in this group and I believe in this organization, and I was willing to leave that money on the table for them.”
