Sorting Through the (Mis)Information

Since draft night, every major news outlet has degraded the wolves’ draft, as much as to say it was the worst in the NBA. This would sit fine with me… if I actually thought we did poorly in the draft. Every player we took fits an immediate need perfectly (we got at least two starters) or is able to turn into a future asset for this team (Charlotte’s draft pick next year in a deeper draft).

The one bit of information that seems to sit uneasily with these outlets was the draft of Rubio and then Flynn. These major outlets seem to think that Rubio will in no way step foot in the Target Center while bearing a Wolves jersey. I say not so fast. If you look over the information that has come out in the past weeks, we have all heard these reasons that Ricky won’t come here:

A)    It’s too cold

B)    He wants to be in a bigger market

C)    He expected a higher salary

D)    He doesn’t want to fight for minutes

Now although the last two hold some weight in the Rubio camp, it has become very clear in the past few days that the first two were never something that made Rubio dislike being picked by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sure, his mother thinks it’s too cold here, but Ricky has never said anything about this making him not want to come to Minnesota. On top of this, the New York media that is reporting this has him being traded to the Knicks of all places… A place where it is just as cold as southern Minnesota, and a team that’s only talent comes at the PF and PG positions… The two we are set at. Oh, and it’s most likely be a coincidence that the rumors of Rubio not wanting to play for the Wolves were “leaked through the New York papers, and then reported by ESPN and Yahoo the next day. (The NY sports media discussion can be had another day)

While it would make sense that Ricky Rubio would love to be in New York where he can sign all the best endorsements for himself to maximize his potential salary on the year, you have to understand all of the hype already around this 18-year-old kid. He is a marketing dream. His name is already globally known in the basketball world, and he is already under contract with the likes of Nike, the pinnacle of marketing when it comes to basketball. Although he may be missing out on a few local endorsements, the attention he already has on himself globally makes the difference between being in a big market (NY) and a medium market (MN) quite slim. Most of his money will come from global ads, which he would even get if he were in the smallest of NBA cities (Oklahoma City anyone??). I’m sure Ricky would love the larger market for the perception of better night life as well, but when you actually do some research, you find that Minneapolis is one of the top 5 cities in the U.S. for just that. Downtown Minneapolis holds a plethora of arts, activities, and outright fun things to do (I’d go into this more, but this is somewhat a family blog, and you don’t need to know what I do on my own time)

Heading into the draft, there were few analysts who thought Rubio would slip past 3rd, and nearly none who believed the Spanish sensation would fall to the #5 selection in the draft. Knowing this, Rubio went into the draft (most likely) expecting to go in the top 3. Falling to #5 from even #3 has cost Ricky (an estimated) $800k/year. Over the 4-year contract, that totals to being $3.2 million, or more than half of his buyout. This fall meant a lot more to Rubio’s unhappiness than the team that took him. Kahn knew before the draft that Rubio needed the money of a top 3 pick, and has said that was one of the main reasons he wanted to move up to get Ricky. It’s just too bad that the Grizzlies and Thunder valued their pick’s placement far too much when they most likely could have landed Thabeet or Harden at pick 5.

The pick of Flynn at #6, immediately made everyone wonder what the Wolves were thinking. They just picked a point that could end up being a franchise defining player, and then they go and pick one that some believe is more NBA ready. Ricky has said publically that he is worried about his playing time on the Wolves, but all along Kahn has said that he will insist that his new coach (whomever that may be) will have a rotation where they will be able to play alongside each other instead of going head to head for minutes. Even if you don’t believe it’s possible to have these two on the court at the same time, there have been many rumors about trades that Kahn had in line when he picked Flynn at #6 that seemed to go south. If this were true, then why would anyone come to the conclusion that the PG that is on the table is Rubio, when Kahn spent the week before the draft ranting and raving about how much he loved the kid? This situation may not be ideal for Rubio right now, but a guarantee from Kahn should be able to easy any worries Ricky has about being the point guard of the present and the future.

As I close this post out, I just want to say to anyone that reads this that although the 24-hour media is very entertaining, I wouldn’t believe that everything they say is accurate. Most of the articles written about this situation have a major spin for whatever region they come from, and then that information hits the major outlets, and these outlets (sometimes accidentally, sometimes not) report the spin as fact instead of as an opinion. Ricky Rubio has NOT, I repeat NOT stated that he doesn’t want to be a Wolf, and I (as well as David Kahn and the rest of the Wolves organization) fully expect him to be here if not this year, then in the next few.

And that is the information that SHOULD have been reported