Another week, another round of rumors surrounding Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio that are spurred in part by excitement for rookie Kris Dunn.
It seems as though we can’t go more than a handful of days before another Ricky Rubio rumor. And tertiary or not, the months of July and August seem to cause every single murmur to be turned into a full-scale possibility.
Here at Dunking With Wolves, we’ll report all of the rumors that we see. That’s our duty to you, our reader, of course.
But we’ll also cut through the muck and try and parse how much truth there might be in some of these reports, or how much sense any roster move might make for the Timberwolves.
This week, Darren Wolfson of KSTP and ESPN 1500 in the Twin Cities held another Scoops podcast. These episodes include tons of tidbits jam-packed into a relatively short amount of time, almost in bullet-point format. (Not just Wolves news, by the way, but plenty of Twins, Gophers, Vikings, and Wild in many cases.)
About halfway through, Doogie spoke to new Wolves center Cole Aldrich regarding the free agency period, his off-season workouts, and his role in Minnesota.
After that, at about the 31:40 mark, Wolfson launched into the Rubio rumor of the day.
"The Sacramento Kings are a team to watch…Keep an eye on the Sacramento Kings if/when they decide to make a move…"
So, another non-news bit dressed as news. We knew that George Karl loved Rubio. Apparently both Vlade Divac, who is in charge of basketball operations in Sacramento, and new head coach Dave Joerger are big Rubio fans as well. Wolfson also reiterates that Rubio will be running point this fall, but it’s apparently still an “if/when” situation.
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Also from Doogie, there is nothing new on the Kevin Garnett front, although we may here more after Tom Thibodeau returns from the Rio Olympics.
But back to Rubio, as ESPN is doing their part to continue to perpetuate the Rubio trade talks. Most recently, it came in a potential Rookie of the Year award piece (Insider) featuring Kevin Pelton and Chad Ford.
To the question of who has the second-best chance of winning the ROY award after the 76ers’ Ben Simmons, Pelton answered:
"I’d go with Timberwolves point guard Kris Dunn. I don’t really think Dunn is most likely to finish second, since his path to a starting job is blocked by veteran Ricky Rubio, but Dunn stepping in as the starter after a Rubio trade is the most likely scenario I see for someone beating out Simmons."
And then, Ford:
"I think Dunn is the most rational choice as well. I have similar concerns about Rubio. However, I agree that given Dunn’s talent, a Rubio trade at the trade deadline seems like a real possibility."
Pelton is a very good analyst and understands Rubio’s value. Ford…not so much. And that comes through here.
At any rate, it’s still out there, ladies and gentlemen. And we’re going to have to live with the rumors for the opening months of the season. Unless, of course, Rubio plays out of his mind and Dunn struggles.
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Buckle up, Wolves fans.