Sometimes, it feels like Ricky Rubio has been a part of trade rumors since he first got drafted by Minnesota in 2009. There was a break in there, but six years later, rumors are still surrounding the Wolves’ star point guard.
And now more than ever, these rumors should not be taken seriously.
They weren’t trading him before his rookie year, when all the stock was being put into him becoming the next big thing in Minnesota. When he was burdened with the “savior” label.
And they aren’t going to trade him now, when he’s proven to be an integral piece to the Wolves future. He just signed a (good value) contract extension. He’s the team’s outspoken leader. He’s a really, really good point guard on both ends. Not to mention he just came off a season of injury problems, which would lower his value, making a quick trade a poor decision.
But this hasn’t stopped reports (started by ESPN’s Chad Ford, continued by The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn, and recently made viral from Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher) from surfacing, citing that the Wolves have been testing the waters, checking on Rubio’s value around the league. The Knicks, who have no trading chips for a guy of Rubio’s value, were mentioned, because of course they were.
I’m no insider, don’t have the sources guys like Ford and Bucher have, and will never claim to. These writers were simply reporting what they were told from people they trust. The problem stems more from the speculation that spreads like wildfire after a report is released, rather than considering what sense (none) trading Rubio would make.
All this said, none of this is to say that Flip Saunders never received phone calls from teams asking about Rubio’s availability. NBA teams and executives are always talking, and every player in the NBA’s name is going to come up at one point or another, including Rubio. How his name specifically keeps surfacing to the media is unclear.
Ultimately, however it’s happening shouldn’t matter. Something could always happen, because it’s basketball and really good players get traded all the time. But there’s no reason to think Ricky Rubio is going to get traded, simply because it would make absolutely no sense for the Wolves to do it.
It can be frustrating seeing rumors like these go viral, especially when a simple look over at the Wolves’ roster can make the “will the Wolves trade Rubio?” question sparkling clear.
If they traded Ricky, unless it’s for another point guard, they’d be left with 38-year-old Andre Miller, late first rounder Tyus Jones, and unproven youngster Lorenzo Brown. With Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, and Zach LaVine, they’re not trading for a wing. They just drafted Karl-Anthony Towns, like Gorgui Dieng and have a logjam at power forward, so trading for a big seems unlikely too.
And, again, Rubio is the Wolves. Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns are the future of the franchise, but the Wolves know what they have in Rubio. There’s no reason to trade him right now, so as reports inevitably continue to surface throughout the remainder of summer, as they have off and on for a number of years now don’t worry about it.