The Minnesota Timberwolves have rebuffed the Sacramento Kings’ attempts to acquire point guard Ricky Rubio prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. The team drafted point guard Kris Dunn with the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and is poised to be the team’s point guard of the future, but the team seems reluctant to rush him into a starting role right away.
Rubio appears to be in an ideal role: having an offense around him that allows him to pass to a talented group of players. However, owed $43 million over the next three years, Rubio suddenly becomes expendable with Dunn in the picture. The irony of the situation is that he was once himself the fifth overall pick back in the 2009 NBA Draft and took over the job from lottery disappointment Jonny Flynn.
Rubio’s first five years in the league have been virtually the same performance when he’s been on the court, although he’s dealt with numerous injuries in his young career. He’s averaging 10.1 points, 8.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game, but is just a 36.8 percent shooter from the floor.
Known from a young age as a 14-year-old who played professionally in Spain, Rubio is still only just 25 years old, but has been playing professionally for more than a decade. He won a silver medal with Spain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a bronze medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
With the Timberwolves hiring new head coach Tom Thibodeau this offseason, along with the development of young prospects Andrew Wiggins, Karl Anthony-Towns and Zach LaVine, the Timberwolves have become the new “it” team in the NBA, it seems with or without Rubio in the fold.
Woj reports Thibodeau doesn’t anticipate Dunn being the starter until 20 games into the season, but the youngster has struggled in preseason and may not be ready to take over that quickly. Thibs would like to get the Wolves in playoff contention, and keeping Rubio around would likely help that.
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