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When the French national team takes to the basketball court in early July to try to secure its spot in this summer's Olympic games, the Blues will be missing their man in the middle.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert is going to skip the qualifying tournament in Manila.

"I had a lot of injuries this year," Gobert told the French publication Mouv recently, "… so my club wants me [in Salt Lake] in June to strengthen my legs and do all the work I have to do."

And after a disappointing end to a disappointing season for Gobert, the man they call the Stifle Tower now realizes just how much work he has ahead of him. Before the season started, Gobert had mapped out in his mind a path to the playoffs. And when the Jazz's season ended last month, having just shy of a postseason berth, everyone in the franchise could point to a different place where things had gone awry. Gobert's left knee was certainly one of them.

At a practice in early December, Gobert was under the basket when a teammate fell into his legs. The diagnosis was a grade-2 MCL sprain that kept the center out for 18 straight games and caused Gobert's game to suffer at times even after he was cleared to return.

"It's been kind of weird this year with injuries to try to come back and get my rhythm back," Gobert said at the team's final media session of the season. "… It was kind of tough this year."

That injury might have kept the Jazz, as a whole, and Gobert, individually, from taking the steps forward they hoped for. Gobert played in just 61 games all season and saw only a minor increase in his scoring (9.1) and rebounding (11) averages. In fact his numbers per 36 minutes actually dropped slightly.

"I feel like I still got better," Gobert said. "You can't really see it in the stats, but I feel like I got better."

How much better he got might determine how the Jazz handle extension talks with Gobert in the coming months. Next season will be the last year on Gobert's team-friendly rookie contract and the Jazz will be allowed to negotiate an extension with the young center up until the Oct. 31 deadline. If no deal is in place by then, Gobert would become a restricted free agent in the summer of 2017 and the Jazz would be able to match any offer he received.

How much is Gobert worth?

The 7-footer with the 9-foot-7 standing reach is a unique talent. At his best he is perhaps the finest rim proctor in the NBA and a Defensive Player of the Year candidate (he finished seventh in this year's voting despite missing more than a quarter of the season). The Jazz jumped from 12th in overall defense last year to seventh this year and Gobert's presence in the middle is a big reason why.

"When you look at the last months, when everybody was pretty healthy, you can see that we were back and one of the best defensive teams in the last months," he said. "We were back where wanted to be."

A max contract, which would be worth more than $25 million a year based on cap projections for the 2017-18 season, seems within Gobert's grasp.

But first comes the work.

As he assessed his performance this year, Gobert admitted to holes in his game and said he must become stronger and tougher to better handle more physical players in the post.

Gobert said he hopes to suit up for France in August should the team qualify for the Olympic games in Rio. And when he returns to Salt Lake City for training camp the next month, he'll have his sights refocused on the postseason.

"It obviously was our goal," he said of coming up short this year. "We're disappointed. … I think it can only get better."

Twitter: @tribjazz —

Gobert by the numbers

Season averages:

2013-14 • 45 games, 9.6 minutes, 2.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.9 blocks

2014-15 • 82 games, 26.3 minutes, 8.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks

2015-16 • 61 games, 31.7 minutes, 9.1 points, 11 rebounds, 2.2 blocks