Reports: Timberwolves to sign Jeff Teague

According to multiple media reports, the Minnesota Timberwolves are signing point guard Jeff Teague to fill the role vacated by Ricky Rubio, who was dealt earlier on Friday.

The move that had been rumored since the Ricky Rubio trade was consummated late on Friday afternoon was made ‘official’ by multiple media outlets as soon as free agency began. At 11:01 Central Time, the tweets announcing the Timberwolves reaching a three-year, $58 million deal with Jeff Teague came rolling in.

First, Adrian Wojnarowski broke his Twitter silence as he was unleashed by his new employer, ESPN.

Woj’s former colleague, Shams Charania, was hot on his heels, even adding the additional detail that the third year of the deal is apparently a player option.

With the news official, let’s unpack what amounts to trading Ricky Rubio for a lottery-protected first-round draft pick and Jeff Teague.

Is Teague better than Rubio? In a vacuum, no. They’re probably both in that #8 to #12 range in terms of league-wide point guard rankings. But with this Wolves roster? It’s certainly understandable that Tom Thibodeau could believe that Teague is a better fit.

While Teague is far from a sharpshooter — in fact, he’s never averaged more than 1.4 three-point makes per game during his career — he is absolutey a superior shooter to Rubio. But…he’s worse in nearly every other category. And, he’ll be paid in the neighborhood of $4 million more than Ricky will make each of the next two seasons.

All that said, Teague is a better option than all of the other point guards out there, save for Kyle Lowry. George Hill? He’ll be 32 years old soon and seemed to decline over the second half of last season. Jrue Holiday? Only 27, but would have been a clear downgrade from Rubio.

Now, the question becomes whether or not the Wolves will renounce Shabazz Muhammad‘s cap space in short order and/or move Cole Aldrich and his salary. After all…the below surface shortly before 11 p.m. on Friday…

For the record, Isola doesn’t exactly have the best track record with NBA rumors (Rubio to the Knicks never happened, did it?), but it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Wolves do everything they possibly can to land Paul Millsap. A Teague-Andrew Wiggins–Jimmy Butler-Millsap-Karl-Anthony Towns lineup would rival the Houston Rockets for the #2 seed in the Western Conference.

Next: Will Justin Patton See The Floor In 2017?

We’ll take you through the wild weekend of NBA free agency as we head towards Saturday morning. Stay tuned…