Ricky Rubio is supposed to be the savior. That’s the plan. He’s the piece that will come in and make all the misfit toys shine like new. And to be honest, even with the Timberwolves sucking for another year, the idea of Rubio being added to Micheal Beasley and Kevin Love with Wes Johnson thrown in is pretty exciting. That’s a core you can see winning. Or at least, the 18 year old Rubio who was drafted. Because, as the New York Times points out, Rubio’s kind of slipped. Hard.
Rubio didn’t look great in FIBA play this summer, and that’s carried over to his Euroleague play this year. He’s shooting 32%. The kid’s never been known for a great jumper, but that’s a big step backwards. That has to put a damper on the Wolves to some degree in their hopes of him being the savior. But more alarming is the following passage from The Times:
“The bottom line is, why would he want to play in Minnesota?” a senior member of Rubio’s camp said this month. “He’ll continue to say all the diplomatic things, and Minnesota needs to keep his value up for trade purposes, but the family’s preference is to be on the East Coast, specifically New York, Miami or Boston. He wouldn’t be troubled if he has to stay another year.”
But the Timberwolves have leverage. They hold his exclusive draft rights, meaning they are the only N.B.A. team with whom he can negotiate. Their latest strategy in trying to persuade Rubio to sign may center on the possible N.B.A. lockout of players after the collective bargaining agreement expires June 30. The terms of the new agreement will probably be significantly less favorable for rookies.
via Ricky Rubio, No. 5 N.B.A. Pick, Struggles in Europe – NYTimes.com.
Minnesota fans will be quick to point out this is a New York paper, and all New York media has been spinning the story that Rubio wants to come to New York from the beginning, that there’s been no word from Rubio publicly that that’s what he wants. There’s just been word from just about every source around him that that’s what he wants.
So the problem now isn’t just one of whether or not he’ll be willing to sign and commit to the Wolves, which he has at least never indicated he wants to do (whether he’s indicated he doesn’t want to or not), but that he’s not looking like they dynamite point guard he did two years ago. He’s being billed as the savior, but in reality, he may just be a very good point guard. And if that’s the case, he’s still a building block for the Wolves, but no the answer.
One other problem not mentioned in this article? Rollbacks.
Should the CBA greatly restrict cap space and revamp salaries as it’s expected to, there’s a strong contingent that believes there will be salary rollbacks. Which means that Rubio could sign under the current rookie structure, and still have his deal revamped into the new system. There’s no guarantee of more money in the event he decides to come over and sign now.
Things are just never easy for the Timberwolves.
