In basketball, it’s a lot more fun to write about players who raise the ceiling for a team. It involves speculating about which player is developing or a new signing that could put a team over the edge and lead them to a championship. Usually, these pieces are more optimistic.
However, Rudy Gobert‘s ejection in the 108-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Dec. 8 allowed fans to see what a Wolves team without Gobert looked like, which was admittedly not great. Anthony Edwards discussed how to replace Gobert in those situations after the game.
“You can’t make up for Rudy’s absence,” Edwards said. “When he’s in the game, it’s like they don’t want to go down there and finish. So of course he’s truly missed when he’s not on the court.”
Anthony Edwards on how the wolves can make up for Rudy Gobert’s absence after being ejected
“You can’t make up for Rudy’s absence, when he’s in the game it’s like they don’t want to go down there and finish. So of course he’s truly missed when he’s not on the court” pic.twitter.com/JwM3fRc9jC
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 9, 2025
Discussing Gobert isn’t always exciting. He’s like my first car, a 2004 Chevy Malibu. He just gets the job done. Some players raise the floor of a team.
However, Gobert doesn’t just raise the floor. He sets the floor at an elite level. He’s a walking top-10 defense in and of himself. Gobert sets the tone offensively, and he never takes nights off.
Gobert’s value jumps off the page. He currently has a plus/minus of plus-8.6 per game, his highest total since 2021-22, his last season in Utah. He’s posting a 109.9 defensive rating, which is 3.3 points higher than Minnesota’s overall team defensive rating.
If Gobert never left the floor, and the Wolves had a defensive rating of 109.9 as a team because of it, they would rank second in the NBA behind only the Oklahoma City Thunder. He’s averaging over 10 rebounds for the 11th straight season.
Gobert’s defensive impact is staggering, especially when you factor in Minnesota’s defensive rating of 121.9, which would rank 29th in the league. It’s a 12-point swing when Gobert is on the court versus off the court in defensive rating. The Wolves go from the second-best defense to the second-worst.
How does Gobert make such an impact?
Part of it is raising the floor, as Chris Finch explained Tuesday.
“His activity is so high,” said Finch. “He’s challenging so much stuff, he’s switching really appropriately, and he’s doing a great job. Golden State, I think, was one of the best games, I think I’ve ever seen him play.
“[Gobert is] just really engaged right now in all facets of the defense, so when that’s happening, it’s like I’ve always said, he’s a top-five defense all by himself.”
Chris Finch on Rudy Gobert’s ability to bring defensive consistency to every game
“He’s activity is so high, he’s challenging so much stuff, he’s switching really appropriately and he’s doing a great job. Golden state I think was one of the best games, I think I’ve ever seen… pic.twitter.com/BYOwxN8948
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 16, 2025
While Gobert is a professional, his advanced individual stats back up the kind of consistency McDaniels is talking about. In 25 games this season, Gobert has only posted a defensive rating greater than 116.0 six times. 116.0 is representative of the 20th overall-ranked team defense.
I use Gobert’s defensive rating as a gauge to determine if a player had a poor defensive outing. In 19 games, Gobert has been average to superb. He has posted a defensive rating under 106.0 in 12 instances. In those 12 games, he has posted a rating under 100.0 7 times.
It’s the model of consistency. Gobert is average to great 75% of the time, and he’s more often truly excellent than genuinely bad. A player’s teammates can influence his defensive rating. Still, given that the Wolves have such a negative rating without Gobert, it’s fair to assume Gobert is a leading factor in his per-game defensive rating.
Looking a layer closer, Gobert thrives as a solo defender. Despite being 33 and 7’1”, he has been excellent guarding the perimeter, only allowing players to shoot 37.9% on three-point attempts when he’s the closest defender. Among all field goal attempts, Gobert only allows opposing players to shoot 45.1% from the field on 428 attempts when Gobert is the primary matchup.
It’s especially encouraging that Gobert has spent 48.5% of his time on the court matched up against guards or forwards, usually due to a switch or a team putting him in isolation. When he is guarding outside the center position, he allows players to shoot only 44.8% from the field and 37.7% from three.
At a high volume, Gobert is still defending the rim against mismatches at an elite level, and also the three-point line, something that people have held against him in the past.
“He’s an intimidator,” Jaden McDaniels said on Tuesday. “He makes people think twice about driving or even going up with their shot.… And then when he does attempt to block people or put his hands up, you can’t even see the rim, so it’s a big help for us when he’s on the court.”
Jaden McDaniels on why Rudy Gobert is so consistently productive
“He’s an intimidator, he makes people think twice about driving or even going up with their shot… and then when he does attempt to block people or put his hands up you can’t even see the rim so it’s a big help… pic.twitter.com/moxwqv4dqX
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) December 16, 2025
Gobert’s level of play on defense sets the tone for the Wolves. In setting that tone, it sets the floor for the Wolves, which is usually something looked down on, figuratively and literally. However, with Gobert’s level of defensive play, the floor he sets is a top-five defense that will allow the Wolves to stay in games, even when they might not be locked in that night.