Utah Jazz: Grading Rudy Gobert’s contract extension

The Utah Jazz wrapped up their offseason by extending All-Star center Rudy Gobert. Let’s take a look at what it means for the team.

Extension season continues for the NBA’s stars, and Rudy Gobert is the most recent player to sign one with the Utah Jazz. On Sunday morning, ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that the Jazz and the All-Star center had agreed upon a five-year extension worth $205 million.

He was eligible for a supermax extension as a result of winning two Defensive Player of the Year awards and three All-NBA selections. The supermax would have paid him $228 million, the same amount that two-time defending MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo signed just a few days earlier.

Gobert’s contract will pay him $23 million less over five years, a number that he says he left on the table in order to let the team continue to build a championship contender around himself and Donovan Mitchell:

"“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 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.”"

Sentiments aside, saving the Jazz $4.6 million per year won’t do a whole lot for team-building purposes, but it does make sense that Gobert would sign a contract slightly less than equal to the largest contract in NBA history. Instead, his contract will simply make him the highest-paid center in NBA history. And considering how centers are currently utilized by teams, it’s a record that may stand for a very long time.

The best of a tricky situation for the Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz made the most of a difficult situation with this deal. They have a player in Donovan Mitchell who is a legitimate superstar in the making, and they need to continue to work at putting a winner around him. Trading Gobert would have likely brought back pennies on the dollar, and losing him for nothing with no clear replacement would have been catastrophic.

It wouldn’t have been an easy task to explain to Mitchell that Gobert had to be moved because of economics so soon after new owner Ryan Smith had taken over the reins either.

Considering the predicament the Jazz found themselves in, paying dearly to keep Gobert in Utah was necessary. While Gobert is an important piece of the puzzle, Donovan Mitchell is the most important element, and keeping the most competitive team possible around him is of vital importance.

It’s a great deal for Gobert, to be sure. His defensive brilliance has translated into one of the biggest contracts the NBA has ever seen, and he only had to give back a few dollars of the maximum he could have gotten. The deal isn’t nearly as good for the Jazz, but it’s the least bad of all the outcomes they faced as they look to build a contender in Donovan Mitchell’s prime.

This extension gets an easy A+ for Rudy Gobert, but overall we’ll take a more tempered view of the transaction.

Grade: B