This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Alec Burks vividly remembers the skinny 7-footer who showed up to the Utah Jazz as a rookie in 2013. Most thought Rudy Gobert would figure out a way to make an impact defensively — with time.

But Gobert's offensive game was as unformed as a lump of clay.

"He couldn't catch a cold," Burks said.

Fast-forward to 2017. This is where Gobert sat at his locker room stall on a Saturday night after scoring 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a win over the Indiana Pacers. That output somehow seemed like a pedestrian individual performance from him. As he took time to entertain the media, he shook hands with Mark Eaton, the legendary Jazz big man from a previous generation. He shook hands with Eaton's nephew, and talked about the changes he's made on his way to morphing into one of the best two-way centers in the NBA.

"Did you watch me when I was playing in Europe?" Gobert asked. "I was catching the ball before I came to the NBA. But when I got here, I was nervous. I was always thinking about what I was going to do with the basketball before I caught it. I wasn't strong enough, so people were pushing me off my base. But the game has slowed down for me."

Heading into Monday night's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Gobert has indeed been one of the best bigs in the league, and is garnering more support seemingly by the minute for inclusion in the All-Star game as a reserve. Rosters will be announced on Thursday afternoon.

But while Gobert is currently a candidate for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award, his biggest leap this season is his emergence as an offensive force. To wit: Gobert is averaging 21 points and 18 rebounds in his last four games. He's shooting almost 74 percent from the field in doing so. In Friday's win over the Dallas Mavericks, he poured in a career-high 27 points. He's been one of the better free-throw shooting big men in the league the entire season.

Gobert's rise this year has been nothing short of meteoric. He's the only player in the league in the top five in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal percentage. He signed a lucrative contract extension before the season that seems like a bargain three months later.

"It's night and day, where he is now compared to where he was when he first got here," Jazz forward Gordon Hayward said. "His feel for the game is much better. He's finding the right spots on his rolls and seals. His hands are much better, so he's catching the ball. Sometimes, our best offense is to get the ball onto the rim and let him go get it."

Gobert isn't traditional and will never be offensively. The Jazz won't be able to throw him the ball and let him create offense. What he has become is one of the best screen-and-roll big men in the NBA. And he has become so good at the simple things that his athleticism, competitiveness and ability to play hard all the time have made him a significant force. He's gotten better at catching the ball in traffic, running the floor for easy buckets and making himself available for dump-offs and lobs when his teammates penetrate to the hoop.

Gobert's gotten stronger, so he's not getting pushed around as much. His confidence is at a high, and his size and athleticism around the rim is too much for most teams to handle.

"When he gets it in there, he's so athletic that he's either dunking the ball or he's going to get fouled," Hayward said.

Ultimately, Gobert's biggest strength offensively is causing stress on opposing defenses by rolling down the middle to the basket. He's either open off screen and rolls, or he's allowing a teammate to get open for 3-point looks in Quin Snyder's offensive scheme.

Most of all, his teammates trust him. For three years, they were leery of throwing him the ball. "Early on, sometimes you're scared to throw it to him, because he drops it," is how Hayward put it.

That fear doesn't exist anymore. And Utah's willingness to throw Gobert the ball has made him a viable offensive threat and opened up other wrinkles in Snyder's offense overall.

"It starts with strength, and that's something I've gotten better at," Gobert said. "I'm also way more connected with my teammates and that's helped. They've done a great job of getting me the ball when I'm open."

tjones@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribjazz —

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