With the public split between the All-Star Utah Jazz duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert seemingly drawing nearer every single day, there is a lot of talk about each man, and who the Jazz should keep and build around, and if the comments made by Tracy McGrady recently are any indication, he isn’t a big fan of Rudy Gobert’s game. It’s been long known that Gobert lacks an offensive game, and given the lack of production in the post-season, that is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why it may be the Frenchman, not ‘Spida’ on the way out of Utah this offseason.
It was exactly this that sparked the interest of former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady, who elected to comment on Gobert during his appearance on “No chill with Gilbert Arenas”, who questioned what the 7’2″ rim protector works on in the off-season. “What the f*ck does he do in the off-season?” was the biggest question posed by the former Raptor, Magic and Rocket (among others), and given the very little progression that Gobert has made offensively, it’s a question worth asking.
It’s hard to argue with McGrady in this situation, as he reminisced about a series against the Rockets from several years ago, where the Frenchman was guarded by Chris Paul in the post, a point guard with very little size compared to the center, yet he was still unable to make a meaningful offensive contribution.
“Listen. I was so mad at Rudy, when they were playing against the Rockets one year, and Chris Paul was guarding him in the post. I was mad as s*it. He couldn’t do nothing. Nothing. Bro you 7’2, and a point guard is guarding you. He had no moves.” McGrady has seemingly hit the nail on the head here, and given just how talented Donovan Mitchell can be, it’s hard to not see the Jazz looking to flip Rudy Gobert for some more talented players to put around Spida.
Ultimately, everyone around the league and especially Utah Jazz fans as well have known about Rudy’s offensive limitations for years now, but McGrady raising the point that he is seemingly refusing to work on his game makes sense, and should infuriate Jazz fans who expected offensive development out of the defensive stud.