The Rudy Gobert experience has been fun this year, and his emergence as a legitimate defensive stud should have the Utah Jazz questioning the future of Enes Kanter.
While Gobert and Kanter are the same age - Kanter is technically 37 days older - Kanter will be a restricted free agent this offseason, while Gobert remains under contract and inexpensive for two seasons.
Gobert is also much better, something that's becoming more obvious by the game, particularly so against LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.
Kanter has his talents. He uses his 6-foot-11, 262-pound frame well to clear space on offense and dives hard in the pick-and-roll, making him tough to stop on his way to the rim. He's averaging 14.1 points and pulling down three offensive rebounds per game.
But his shooting touch has developed slowly and he's hitting only 34.7 percent of his jump shots. With the Jazz committed to playing two traditional bigs for the most part, Kanter needs to be able to stretch the floor some, and while he's hit 13 triples, teams don't respect him from mid-range or the corners. He also struggles to score in close when he's not the dive-man, shooting 39.1 percent between three and 10 feet.
The bigger issue with Kanter comes on defense. While his bulk allows him to body bigger post threats inside, he's prone to lapses in help coverage and doesn't protect the rim. At all. When Kanter is within five feet of the basket and the shooter, opponents are hitting a ridiculous 60.8 percent at the rim, one of the worst marks in basketball.
Things are even worse when Kanter is the focal point of an attack, specifically in the pick-and-roll. The Swiss behemoth is a mess in those situations, and opponents have been exploiting that more and more. He lacks the lateral quickness to switch onto guards and effectively seal them off, and his decision making can be highly questionable.
The net result is the Jazz generally play poor defense when Kanter's on the floor. The offense is better, but the defensive upgrade to Gobert more than outweighs the loss at the other end.
Playing Gobert and Kanter together sinks the offense to an ungodly level, while pairing Gobert alongside Derrick Favors has been the team's best option, and it's not particularly close. Gobert also appears the better defensive fit next to both of the team's young point guards.
| Big Pairing | O-Rtg | D-Rtg | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| Favors-Kanter | 107.0 | 111.2 | -4.1 |
| Favors-Gobert | 101.9 | 99.7 | 2.2 |
| Gobert-Kanter | 98.1 | 103.7 | -5.6 |
| D-Rtg: Big/PG | Burke | Exum |
|---|---|---|
| Kanter | 110.6 | 106.6 |
| Gobert | 103.2 | 100.8 |
Gobert's impact is profound, regardless of who he plays with. When he takes the floor, opponents not only shoot far worse at the rim - Gobert's opponent field-goal percentage at the rim is 37.7 percent, the best mark in the league - but they also shoot there less frequently. The end result is the Jazz's defense moving from a mark that would be the league's worst to one that would rank 12th when Gobert checks in.
| Jazz Defense | With Gobert | Without Gobert |
|---|---|---|
| D-Rtg | 101.6 | 110.0 |
| Reb% | 53.3% | 51.2% |
| Opp FG% Restricted | 54.7% | 65.2% |
| Opp FGA% Restricted | 29.4% | 31.9% |
Standing 7-foot-1 and possessing a 7-foot-8.5 wingspan is an enormous defensive edge, and Gobert maintains a lateral quickness that's exceedingly rare for a player his size. In his second season, he appears to be one of the best half-dozen options in the league for checking Aldridge, one of the most complicated assignments out there.
Aldridge shot 5-of-12 with Gobert on the floor Tuesday and 3-of-4 when "The French Rejection" hit the bench.
His defensive acumen, size, length and quickness allow Gobert to do some truly special things at the defensive end.
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder has been slow to make the shift from Kanter to Gobert, playing Kanter more overall and more often late in games, despite poor results.
| Jazz Bigs | Gobert | Kanter |
|---|---|---|
| MPG | 21.7 | 27.1 |
| Pts/36 | 11.3 | 18.7 |
| TS% | 65.6% | 54.4% |
| PER | 21.8 | 17.9 |
| Reb% | 20.0% | 16.4% |
| Blk% | 7.8% | 1.1% |
| D-Rtg | 101.6 | 109.0 |
| 4th Q MPG | 5.3 | 7.0 |
| 4th Q D-Rtg | 103.9 | 105.7 |
That may be changing, though, even if Snyder did re-install Kanter as the starting center after Gobert looked great in the role while Kanter sat with an injury in January. Kanter sat the final 5:48 of Tuesday's game as the Jazz tried to close out Portland, and Gobert has averaged more playing time - overall and in the fourth - over the past 10 games.
Gobert is the team's future on the defensive end, and apologies to Kanter, but it's time to embrace that to the fullest. Just call him the de-Kanter the way he breathes life into the Jazz's defense.
