Ranking top 15 Minnesota Timberwolves rookies of all time

Player 10: Randy Foye (2006-07)

Combination guard Randy Foye was acquired in a draft-night trade that was a pretty bad draft-night deal for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded SG Brandon Roy to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for combo guard Foye. The Timberwolves were desperate to build around Kevin Garnett and that panic allowed them to fumble the 2006 NBA Draft mightily.

Of course, let’s not be blinded to the fact that the 6-foot-4 213-pound guard had a solid rookie season for the Timberwolves, averaging 10.1 points per game and shooting 36.8 percent from the perimeter. But the fact is that he played three of his 12 NBA seasons for the Timberwolves, rather than NBA Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy tells you all that you need to know.

Player 9: Ricky Rubio (2011-12)

Ricky Rubio was drafted with the fifth overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, but would not join the Minnesota Timberwolves until the 2011-12 NBA season. When he finally arrived, the 6-foot-2 190-pound point guard became an instant fan favorite among Timberwolves fans during his rookie year

The Minnesota Timberwolves would finish with a record of 26-40 because the NBA season was shortened due to a lockout that year. Even that was too much for Rubio, who was only able to compete in 41 games and start in 31 of those contests, due to an injury. Even so, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.2 steals in his rookie season in 34.2 minutes per game.

Okay, now that we have the 11th through 15th-ranked rookies out of the way, let’s get into the top 10.