When the Wolves drafted Providence guard Kris Dunn with the 5th pick in the NBA draft it was clear that Ricky Rubio was on his way out of Minnesota. With Zach LaVine also one of their up and coming guards, the duo of Dunn and LaVine is what everyone is expecting to blossom in Minnesota. Which leaves out an injured Ricky Rubio. Rubio’s inability to stay healthy has made him a hard player to trade, because his selling price is high, but GM’s won’t bite on the price because of past injuries.
Despite this, it looks like the Wolves will be keeping Ricky Rubio for the time being. Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor says that he doesn’t see a trade involving Rubio as a likely possibility. According to Sid Hartman of the Star Tribune:
One thing Taylor did say is that he doesn’t believe point guard Ricky Rubio will be traded at this point.
“I don’t see that as a likely possibility,” he said about a Rubio trade. “I just think the coach, everybody, likes Ricky. I think we want him to come in and improve on his shooting. But his other things, he plays defense, he gets assists, he helps the others get better. He has some wonderful qualities.
“I think the coach wants to bring an assistant coach to help Ricky on his shooting and I think that’s where we’re going to start out and go and we’ll see how good Kris Dunn is.
Rubio has been a thorn in the side of the Wolves for a while, as they have been looking to let go of the crafty Spanish point guard. He averaged 10 points and 8 assists in 76 games for the Wolves last year, arguably his most consistent, but his lack of perimeter shooting doesn’t help raise his value. Could Taylor just be making up for the fact that they couldn’t find an offer for Rubio so they”re forced to keep him? It wouldn’t surprise me.
