Minnesota Timberwolves: Ranking 5 former Wolves in NBA bubble

No. 1 – Ricky Rubio

Stats with Wolves

• Six seasons, 353 games
• 10.3 points, 8.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists

Ricky Rubio will forever be in the hearts of Minnesota faithful, for better or worse.

Let’s start with the ‘worse.’ The Wolves drafted Rubio fifth-overall in the 2009 draft. We all know that Steph Curry was selected at No. 7. And for the purpose of this article, let’s just forget about who the Wolves took with the No. 6 pick.

Ricky turned pro at the age of 14 and was an Olympian at age 17. He was drafted in 2009 but did not come over to the NBA until the 2011 season.

Rubio ranks second in assists and first in assists per game in Wolves franchise history. He also ranks second in steals and first in steals per game. Ricky impacted games not so much on the scoring side, but certainly in creating shots for others and starting fast breaks.

Rubio is still only 29 and is playing with a young but promising Suns roster that just won eight in a row in the bubble, although it was still not enough to make the cut for the NBA playoffs.

In Minnesota, Ricky never really had the supporting cast around him to make a run like he has with the Jazz and now the Suns. The Rubio and Kevin Love-led teams coached by Rick Adelman were close, but they capped out at winning 40 games in 2013-14.

Outlook

While this list isn’t exactly drizzled with star power, there are plenty of names that will bring back some memories of past Wolves squads. Maybe it is Corey Brewer’s 51-point game, Tyus Jones dunking on LeBron James, or even just Ricky Rubio’s first game on the Timberwolves. It’s still nice to look back on the bright moments of Wolves past.

That said, the Minnesota Timberwolves have re-upped on star power and have plenty of potential to make a run in the coming seasons.