If the Utah Jazz make All-Star Rudy Gobert available in trade talks, the San Antonio Spurs would be a logical landing place for the defensive phenom.

When the COVID-19 outbreak began, few anticipated it to impact our everyday lives the way that it has. For many people, the wake-up call came once the NBA suspended it’s season after All-Star center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus just minutes before his Utah Jazz were slated to play the Oklahoma City Thunder. Though the San Antonio Spurs weren’t going to play that night, their whole season got turned upside-down as Commissioner Adam Silver called for an indefinite hiatus.

As the story has developed and we’ve learned more about the precautions that the league had set in place, it became obvious that Gobert did not take the event as seriously as he should have. This would also be the case for most people, but Gobert took it to the next level by being outwardly kitschy about the situation and trying to make jokes out of it.

This resulted in a huge break in his relationship with teammate Donovan Mitchell, who also became a first-time All-Star for Utah this season. Reports by Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic broke on Friday morning, saying that the relationship between Gobert and Mitchell “doesn’t appear salvageable” and that Mitchell is “reluctant” to work on that.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1210442088686317568

The verbiage of the report is important because it suggests that the bond between the team’s two best players is beyond restoration. Utah hasn’t been able to make much out of their team as currently constructed for the last few seasons, so it wouldn’t be totally surprising to see one of the two teammates on the trading block this offseason.

While Gobert is the best rim protector in the NBA today and one of the most influential defensive players in the sport, but the obvious choice is to stick with Mitchell. The 23-year-old entered the league as a surefire 20 point per game scorer with solid defensive skills, playmaking instincts and undeniable range. He’s a wildly talented athlete who continues drawing comparisons to Dwyane Wade for his shiftiness with the ball and explosiveness as an undersized two-guard.

Gobert has one year left on his current contract after this one and is going to be in line for a solid payday in 2021. Utah could let this play out and see how things go for another two seasons, but they risk damaging their relationship with a far more important player to their organization in Mitchell. With this being the case, they’ll be looking for someone to take Gobert and the Spurs are in a position to build another playoff team with Gobert.