Minnesota Timberwolves Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Trade Candidate: Ricky Rubio

December 8th, 2016 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

In the months leading up to February’s trade deadline, Hoops Rumors will be taking a closer look at several players we consider trade candidates, discussing their value, speculating on potential destinations, and explaining why they are – or should be – available. These players won’t necessarily be dealt in advance of the deadline, but it won’t be surprising if they are.

Ricky Rubio, PG
Minnesota Timberwolves
2016/17 salary: $13,550,000
Eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2019
Trade restrictions: None

There seems to be an uneasy truce these days between the Timberwolves and their starting point guard. The way that the Timberwolves’ offseason unfolded, it’s somewhat surprising that Ricky Rubio remains their floor leader. It probably won’t be that way much longer, though Rubio has done little to enhance his trade value through the first six weeks of the season.

Once Tom Thibodeau was hired as the head coach and president of basketball operations, Rubio’s exit seemed like a foregone conclusion. Rubio was shopped prior to the draft, as Thibodeau pursued a deal for the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler. One of the reasons that that potential deal fell through was the Chicago wanted Zach LaVine, instead of Rubio, as part of the package.

The Timberwolves wound up with their fallback plan, which was to select the top point guard in the draft to presumably take Rubio’s job. Kris Dunn dropped to the No. 5 spot, which Thibodeau didn’t mind since he was reportedly atop his draft board.

Supposedly, Thibodeau got some offers for Rubio during the summer, but nothing that compelled him to pull the trigger. Eventually, the Timberwolves opted to take a wait-and-see approach, giving Dunn time to acclimate himself to the NBA game while Rubio held the fort as the starter during the early portion of the season.

What’s happened since the season began may not be a worse-case scenario, but it’s pretty close. First, Rubio missed five games with an elbow injury. Upon returning, his play has been substandard while the Timberwolves, who were expected to be one of the most improved teams in the Western Conference, have floundered.

His shooting, never his strong suit anyway, has been woeful. He’s made 34.5% of his field-goal attempts and 22.9% of his 3-point tries. His assists are down to an average of 6.7 per game over 30.6 minutes, though his turnover numbers (1.9) remain respectable. His current 12.1 PER is well below the league average of 15.0.

By comparison, Rubio has averaged at least 8.6 assists per game the past three seasons while playing a comparable amount of minutes.

Perhaps the only reason why Rubio has kept his starting position is that Dunn struggled in the early going himself, though that appears to be changing. According to Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dunn’s shot looked as good as it has all season on Tuesday, when he made all but one of his field-goal attempts and scored 15 points against the Spurs. Moreover, as Souhan noted, Rubio is the picture of frustration these days whose veteran leadership is being outweighed by his lack of production.

The pairing of Dunn and talented combo guard LaVine as the starting backcourt will probably happen soon. Minnesota also has another recent first-round pick, Tyus Jones, in line to take an expanded reserve role. The only reason to delay the inevitable at this point would be hope Rubio gets into a better groove, which would make it easier to move him.

Rubio’s contract, given the rise in salaries to coincidence with jump in the salary cap, is reasonable. He’s making $13.55MM this season and has two guaranteed years remaining at $14.25MM and $14.95MM, respectively. If another team views Rubio as an upgrade to their current point guard situation, those figures are certainly not prohibitive.

So which teams out there might want a flashy if offensively-challenged point man who at 26 years old should be in his prime? The Kings were reportedly one of his pursuers this summer and their point situation hasn’t improved. Darren Collison is averaging 4.7 assists, compared to 2.2 turnovers, and journeyman Ty Lawson is also getting steady playing time. Sacramento is overloaded with young bigs on its roster and has also been trying to move small forward Rudy Gay, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season if he opts out.

Which other teams might be a match for Rubio? The Nets, who lead the league in having offer sheets to restricted free agents matched, have been looking to upgrade their roster. Current starter Jeremy Lin has been injured and seems like a short-term fix, anyway, with rookie Isaiah Whitehead behind him.

The suddenly woebegone Mavericks could seek a younger replacement to Deron Williams and the Pelicans might consider such a move, considering Jrue Holiday is oft-injured and heading into the free agent market this summer.

The Sixers, with Sergio Rodriguez currently running the show, could use a heady point guard to feed the ball to their stable of bigs. Another intriguing option might be the Spurs, taking into account Tony Parker‘s mileage and recent injury history. The Hawks chose to hand the controls of their attack to Dennis Schroder but with an offense currently ranked No. 27 in efficiency, they might rethink that plan.

Minnesota could also wait on a contender that suffers a point guard injury — the Grizzlies and Mike Conley already fit that category, though they’re paying Conley way too much to take on a salary like Rubio’s as a fill-in at the same position.

Rubio is undoubtedly a better player than he’s shown this season. In his last two full seasons — he was injured most of the 2014/15 campaign — he had a VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) of 2.3 each time. That translates to approximately six wins per season over a replacement player. Rubio is not only one of the league’s most prolific distributors, he’s typically near the top of the steals categories, generating a couple of easy baskets per game for his club.

What’s apparent is that Rubio is not the long-term starter for Minnesota. By drafting Dunn in the lottery, the Timberwolves basically told Rubio that he was just a placeholder for their preferred option at the point. If Rubio is still wearing their uniform by the end of the season, it will speak more toward his declining trade value than their reluctance to give him a fresh start.

What do you think? Should the Timberwolves trade or keep Rubio? Which team would be the best fit for Rubio? Weigh in below in the comments section with your thoughts and possible trade ideas.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bontemps Examines Timberwolves' Slow Start

November 29th, 2016 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

With rookie point guard Kris Dunn joining the mix, and Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, and Zach LaVine all a year older, the Timberwolves were expected to take a big step forward this season. So far, that hasn’t happened, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post.

Van Gundy: Future Bright For Young Wolves

November 26th, 2016 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy remains a believer in the Timberwolves despite their slow start, relays Jerry Zgoda of The Star-Tribune. Van Gundy is still close with Minnesota coach/executive Tom Thibodeau, who worked as his assistant in New York and Houston, and is confident he will turn things around. “I was thinking today: If there was no salary cap, what players wouldn’t you trade Karl-Anthony Towns for,” Van Gundy asked. “Steph Curry? That’s a no. Is Kevin Durant a no? Is Anthony Davis a no, because of his durability? How many can you come up with? I mean, they have a future. There are a lot of young teams that all they are is young. That doesn’t mean they have a chance to be good. Minnesota has a chance to be really good, but there are moves that need to be made to shore up [their weaknesses].”

Ricky Rubio Frustrated By Poor Play

November 26th, 2016 at 3:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio is off to a disastrous start, due to an elbow sprain and his struggles to run new coach Tom Thibodeau’s scheme, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Rubio is averaging 6.1 points on 32.7% shooting and a career-low 6.7 assists in 29.9 minutes. “I think everybody’s got to look at the mirror and see if they’re bringing everything in the game,” Rubio told Zgoda. “Talking personally, I’m not doing it and I have to do it more. I have to be more aggressive. I have to find myself again and lead this team like I’m supposed to.” Rubio’s name has often popped up in trade rumors, particularly after the team drafted Kris Dunn in the lottery in June. He has two years and $29.2MM remaining on his contract after this season but his poor play isn’t enhancing his value.

Payne Getting Expanded Role

November 23rd, 2016 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Timberwolves forward Adreian Payne‘s option wasn’t picked up last month, but his role with the team is growing, writes Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune. Payne got a chance to show what he could do after Shabazz Muhammad was sidelined with a sore knee. “Being patient is part of the NBA, being ready,” Payne said. “You just have to continue to work. Just going through this has been tough. It can break a lot of people. You just have to stay positive and continue to work.”

NBA 2016/17 Dead Money: Northwest Division

November 19th, 2016 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The concept of “dead money” on a salary cap isn’t as common in the NBA as it is in the NFL, but it essentially functions the same way in both leagues. Dead money refers to the salary remaining on a team’s cap for players that are no longer on the roster.

For NFL teams, taking on a certain amount of dead money is a common practice, since signing bonuses affect cap hits differently, and big-money players are more likely to be released before playing out their entire contracts. That practice is less common in the NBA.

Still, with the NBA’s salary cap on the rise, teams may be a little more willing to part ways with players on guaranteed salaries, since that increased cap gives clubs more flexibility than they used to have. Within the last month, we’ve seen players like Ronnie Price and Greivis Vasquez, who each had $4-5MM in guaranteed money left on their contracts, waived in order to clear room for newcomers.

We’ve examined each of the NBA’s 30 teams, breaking them down by division, determining which teams are carrying the most dead money on the cap for 2016/17, and assessing what that might tell us about those teams. We’ve already examined the Central, Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, and Pacific divisions. Today, we’ll turn our attention to the Northwest division to wrap things up.

Here are the 2016/17 dead money figures for the Northwest teams:

1. Minnesota Timberwolves
Total dead money: $9,360,305
Full salary cap breakdown

Only two NBA teams – the Sixers and Nets – are currently carrying more dead money on their 2016/17 salary cap than the Timberwolves. And like those other clubs, Minnesota remains below the salary floor, so those dead-money charges aren’t hurting the team too much. Kevin Garnett ($8MM) is responsible for most of the Wolves’ dead money, and if he had made his retirement decision earlier, the club could have stretched his cap hit across three years. Still, Minnesota may have chosen to apply the entire amount to this season’s cap anyway, since the club has excess cap room at the moment and won’t have to worry about KG’s charges after June. The rest of the Wolves’ 2016/17 dead money comes from Kevin Martin ($1.36MM).

2. Oklahoma City Thunder
Total dead money: $4,358,585
Full salary cap breakdown

The Thunder’s management of their cap has been interesting, as the team has been willing to waive players with guaranteed salaries, like Ronnie Price ($2.558MM) and Mitch McGary ($1.526MM). Oklahoma City was also fairly generous with its partial guarantees for camp invitees, such as Chris Wright ($100K), Kaleb Tarczewski ($75K), Alex Caruso ($50K), and Reggie Williams ($50K).

So it was a little surprising when the Thunder essentially dumped Ersan Ilyasova‘s $8.4MM salary in a trade with the Sixers earlier this month, opening up cap room and reducing their year-end salary bill, at the cost of a future conditional first-round pick. Perhaps Philadelphia simply coveted Ilyasova, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the Thunder the rest of the way to see if they do anything with that newfound cap room.

3. Portland Trail Blazers
Total dead money: $1,984,005
Full salary cap breakdown

Anderson Varejao‘s $1.984MM cap hit is the only dead money on the Trail Blazers’ books, and that contract was one worth taking on, since it landed Portland a future first-round pick. Still, the Blazers will likely do everything they can to avoid eating more salary this season. As it stands, the club is less than $500K from the tax line, so even replacing one minimum salary player with another could have major financial implications for the team.

4. Denver Nuggets
Total dead money: $1,380,431
Full salary cap breakdown

The Nuggets have several players contributing dead-money charges to their cap, ranging from Nick Johnson ($980K) to camp invitees like D.J. Kennedy ($50K) and Nate Wolters ($50K). Most recently, Denver waived Jarnell Stokes, who had a $150K guarantee, and the team likely won’t hesitate to continue rolling over its roster and eating salary if necessary — with only about $75MM in total salary on their books for 2016/17, the Nuggets currently sit well below the salary floor.

5. Utah Jazz
Total dead money: $275,000
Full salary cap breakdown

The Jazz have kept a very clean cap sheet for 2016/17, with their only dead-money charges coming in the form of partial guarantees for camp invitees — Marcus Paige ($125K), Quincy Ford ($75K), and Henry Sims ($75K). As a result, the team is more than $13MM under the cap, which come in handy, since George Hill and Derrick Favors are both eligible for extensions. With the ability to give either player a significant raise for ’16/17, the Jazz have a great opportunity to lock up one of those two players and keep them off the market, if they so choose.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

Kilpatrick Remembers First NBA Opportunity

November 12th, 2016 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sean Kilpatrick, who is having a breakout season with the Nets, is thankful to late Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders for giving him his first NBA opportunity, relays Jerry Zgoda of the Star-Tribune. Minnesota was short on healthy players in 2014 and turned to Kilpatrick because he was the best D-League player who could get to Madison Square Garden in time for a game with the Knicks. Kilpatrick lasted just four games with the Wolves, but took advantage of his chance with Brooklyn last season. He impressed the team on two 10-day contracts and was signed for the rest of the year. “He’s grinded through some tough times to get where he is,” said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson. “He keeps blossoming. We’re giving him a lot of responsibility, and he has answered the bell. We’re thrilled with what he’s giving us so far.”

Rubio Injury Update

November 11th, 2016 at 5:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Ricky Rubio, who has been out of action after suffering a sprained right elbow, may be nearing a return after practicing with the Wolves today, the team announced (via Twitter).

Dieng Eager To Live Up To Extension

November 10th, 2016 at 10:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves big man Gorgui Dieng vows not to get complacent after agreeing to a four-year, $62.8MM extension, Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders reports. “You can get a contract, but you gotta earn it,” Dieng told Taylor. “I want to show that I’m worth every penny and I’m gonna try the best I can to help this team get better and myself.” Despite the team’s slow start, Dieng is averaging 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.

And-Ones: Youth Academy, Prigioni, Pelicans

November 9th, 2016 at 9:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA will team with Basketball Australia to create a youth academy in Canberra, according to A.J. Neuhart-Keusch of USA Today. Known as NBA Global Academy, the facility will be an elite training center for young players. Located at the Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sport, the academy is designed to be a “global hub” for international prospects. The NBA has three similar facilities in China. “NBA Global Academy will allow top prospects from around the world to train with and compete against their peers in a structured environment under the supervision of NBA-trained coaches and in collaboration with BA’s internationally recognized coaches,” said Brooks Meek, NBA vice president of international basketball operations.

There’s more basketball news tonight:

Barcelona has confirmed its interest in 39-year-old point guard Pablo Prigioni, relays Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. Head coach Georgios Bartzokas said the team has its eye on Prigioni, who was waived by the Rockets last month, but cautioned that it’s far from a done deal. “Every guard in the market with European passport interests us,” Bartzokas said. “Prigioni, with his great career and potential is one of them. But the most important thing is to bring a player that fits into our system. It’s not just about the potential, quality or level of the player. It’s about whether he fits with us and whether he’s able to play well with our players.”
The Pelicans top a list of teams that should be very worried by their slow starts, writes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. New Orleans has an 0-8 record and is hampered by injuries to Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter and Lance Stephenson, who was waived over the weekend. The Pelicans are also without starting point guard Jrue Holiday, who remains on a leave of absence to care for his ailing wife. Bontemps says there are whispers that coach Alvin Gentry may be fired if the team doesn’t start winning soon. The other teams on Bontemps’ list are the Wizards, Knicks, Mavericks and Timberwolves.
Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard is the latest player to incorporate strobe lights into his training, according to Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com. The flashing lights, which simulate photographers’ flashes, were first incorporated by Michael Jordan in the 1990s.