As this season’s trade deadline approached, one player who involved in a multitude of rumors was Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio. The Timberwolves reportedly made Rubio available for trade, but a trade never materialized.
The rumors that Rubio trades were discussed are apparently true, though, according to Rubio himself. From Jon Krawczynski of AP:
Rubio said [Timberwolves GM Milt] Newton told him that he was “almost traded, but we didn’t because the other team didn’t offer what we wanted.”
“When the GM comes to you and says that’s what happened, it hurts, but you’ve got to be professional,” Rubio said. “You’ve been here all your career and thinking they were supporting you. At some point, they weren’t. But I’m professional. I’m going to give it my all. I love playing basketball and every time I step on the court I want to win.”
Newton remembers that conversation happened differently than Rubio does:
“I told him we’ve never, ever called another team to trade you, but it is my job to listen,” Newton said. “I even shared that with his agent. I never told him we almost traded you, because we didn’t almost trade him.”
Newton said he would have further conversations with Rubio to clear up any misunderstanding. He called Rubio “extremely valuable to the organization” and said he has already run some possible roster moves by him to get his point guard’s input.
“I know that he needs a little bit more communication,” said Newton, who took over as the team’s front office leader after Flip Saunders died in October. “If that’s what it takes for a player to play to the best of his ability, those are things I’ll have to realize and facilitate.”
What Rubio wants most is stability. The roster changes in his five years have been dizzying, but now he sees a promising young core that includes Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine that he wants to grow with.
“I understand it’s a business,” Rubio said. “I really like playing with these guys. We have a chemistry. We’re building it. And I’m having fun playing with them.”
Rubio has averaged 10.4 points, 8.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game this season, but has shot just 37.5% from the field.
