The value of NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal blew up when he led a new franchise like the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals as a young star. Many teams wanted to land the Big Diesel and the Los Angeles Lakers were no different. After evaluating his options carefully, O’Neal joined the Lakers and signed the biggest contract ever at the time. Because of his massive contract, there was a huge pressure on Shaq to deliver.

And he delivered in style winning three-straight titles which was a feat even the mighty Showtime Lakers were not able to achieve. He led the team and won three straight Finals MVP awards and the NBA MVP award in 2000. While the Lakers’ gamble paid off, that is not always the case for every trade and every huge deal.

Shaquille O’Neal is not a fan of Rudy Gobert

Shaquille O’Neal had a scathing remark when Rudy Gobert signed a five-year $205 million contract extension with the Utah Jazz. Even though Shaq believed Gobert was good defensively, he could not fathom paying so much for a center who is not a huge scorer. Fellow NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley had a similar reaction as well. Furthermore, when the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired the Frenchman, O’Neal and Barkley suggested that it is a bad deal.

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Now it looks like, the prediction of the two NBA legends is true as there are reports of the Timberwolves looking to trade Rudy emerge. Some fans called out the Wolves’ front office for the deal because of the trade rumor. Here are some reactions from fans:

“Really after all they gave up that GM should be fired.”

“Good luck, he is completely overpaid, and i dont think anybody will pay him huge just to block shots and rebound.”

“Moving while they can get something for him, I don’t expect other teams to over pay for him like they did.”

“Waive him. Cant play defense. Takes layup over easy dunk.”

“He’s very overrated even in Utah”

“Worst trade EVER”

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A lot of fans were also skeptical about the Gobert deal when it happened. With the struggles of the Wolves this season, and the improvement of the Jazz ever since trading the center away, many fans are now sure it was a bad deal.

Charles Barkley’s brutally honest take on the deal

Charles Barkley is someone who always speaks his mind all the time. The Philadelphia 76ers legend recently stated the Rudy Gobert deal was the worst deal ever in the NBA. He said, “The [Minnesota] Timberwolves made the worst trade (referring to Rudy Gobert) in NBA history… That was so stupid that trade.” 

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Most fans agreed with this notion on social media as well. The struggles of the Minnesota Timberwolves are very evident this season. To make things worse, even the defensive stats of the two-time DPOY has gone down this year. However, given his huge contract, a trade might not be very likely.