If we look at the major media after the end of the first day of the NBA playoffs, we will find that there is news everywhere that is unfavorable to the Utah Jazz, and although the Jazz have completed the next win in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks on the road, they look more like losers, as if a playoff victory can not hide the big problems they are about to erupt.
Luka Doncic, the lone star of this game, was absent, the Jazz, who should have won the game easily, played extremely hard, they only won 99-93 in the end, and the interior star Rudy Gobert only grabbed 17 rebounds and 3 blocks, but only 1 shot, scored 5 points, and thus set an embarrassing record, Gobert became the first player in NBA history to have only 1 shot in the playoffs, but grabbed 17 rebounds and 3 blocks.
In the past five seasons, the team has not made it to the second round of the playoffs with its current core lineup. They tend to perform well in the regular season, but in the playoffs, despite some heroic performances by guard Donovan Mitchell, they have stopped in the first round again and again, so once they lose to the Lone Rangers again in the first round this season, the question of whether they should continue to maintain the lineup centered on Mitchell and Gobert becomes a real question.
On this issue, the well-known American basketball commentator Jaylen Ross gave some advice, he believes that if the Utah Jazz really intend to tear down the rebuild, then trading Gobert is the only reasonable thing to do: "If you are the Utah Jazz, you should not trade Donovan Mitchell, you should trade Rudy Gobert." ”
The conversation about the conflict between Gobert and Mitchell has been going on for a long time, and there's a lot of speculation about the relationship between the two. Gobert, who spoke about the issue in a recent interview, did not give a positive answer to the question, saying only that both of them share a common goal of bringing a championship to Utah, but judging by their performances this season, it seems like an unlikely thing to do.
In addition, Gobert's lack of a positive answer just confirms that the two do have contradictions, because if not, he will directly deny it. It's also easy to understand that Jaylen Rose thinks Gobert should be traded instead of Mitchell, who is younger and more marketable than Gobert, and his game will also affect the playoffs to a large extent. But the problem is that Gobert is a unique defensive player on the inside, and if they really decide to break up this core lineup, the Jazz feel that it is actually difficult to make a choice, who do you think they should trade?