Rudy Gobert agrees to historic five-year, $205M extension with Jazz

Centre Rudy Gobert has agreed to a five-year, $205-million extension with the Utah Jazz, the team announced Sunday.

The kid from Saint-Quentin is staying in SLC pic.twitter.com/z6gtZrb5yv

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) December 20, 2020

The max deal, which reportedly contains a player option in the final year, is the third-largest in NBA history, surpassed only by the supermax extension reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo just signed (five years, $206.8 million) and the contract Russell Westbrook signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 (five years, $205 million). It is also, consequently, the largest deal for a centre ever.

Like Antetokounmpo, Gobert was eligible for a supermax extension worth $228 million since he is a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and three-time All-NBA selection. However, if he had signed such a contract, the Jazz would’ve had essentially no fiscal flexibility in the near-term future after their re-signing of star guard Donovan Mitchell, whom they inked to a five-year, rookie scale max extension (worth a guaranteed $163 million and up to a possible $195 million if certain criteria are met) this past off-season.

There had been reported concerns late last season that Mitchell and Gobert were at odds, a tension that was heightened by Gobert’s flippant attitude towards COVID-19 right before he tested positive for the virus, a moment that ultimately led to the temporary shutdown of the league.

But following constructive communication about their professional partnership during the hiatus, the two found themselves displaying strong chemistry once the restart took place in Orlando. Evidently, it was enough to convince themselves and the Jazz that the duo have yet to reach their ceiling.

The once-lauded 2021 free agent class has now thinned considerably at the top, with the likes of Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Paul George, and now Gobert all off the table.

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