Minnesota Sports Forum

"Ricky Rubio had hit double digits in scoring in five of Minnesota's previous six games while dishing 13 assists per game in that stretch. Rubio was playing with flair again after a moribund few weeks where it appeared he let his shaky shooting -- and perhaps uncertain future in Minnesota -- sap the zest from his game.

Rubio was jacking his midranger, and driving to the rim with a little more authority -- at least by his standards. He flashed some dribbling derring-do, and launched Kevin Love-level outlet passes.

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This sounds hokey, but Rubio represents something larger than himself. He was a source of mystery and anticipation, and then of joy when he finally arrived here. He plays with such smiley exuberance. He cares about his teammates. He is happy in their success.

He is historically bad at the most basic and selfish basketball act, but otherworldly brilliant at dozens of tiny selfless things that make his teammates better -- passing a half-second early so that someone has more space to shoot, spotting a cutter on time, or taking an extra dribble into the lane to shift the defense the one last step that makes all the difference.

He is a vessel for our belief in a certain basketball magic: that a connector can lift his team to a higher place by empowering everyone around him -- by effectively spreading joy. Maybe that sharing carries a multiplier effect more powerful than the drag of Rubio's horrid shooting.

Alas, that hasn't really proved true. His shooting constrains Minnesota's offense, especially against good defenses who game plan for him. It is a barrier the Wolves have to fight through and around every night.

But for some stretches, the good parts of Rubio's game overcome that one handicap. We just went through one. Hope you enjoyed it."


Zach Lowe understands. And I have a sneaky suspicion he'd fit right in the mix of our Rubio discussions here.

I think the perfect summary is this: Ricky Rubio is a great back up PG.

I just don't think that will be the route on this team. We have overrated him for so long because of that mystery, expectation, and the joy that he plays with. If Ricky could average 12 assists a game he would consistently overcome his handicap on offense. The problem will always be that he has never done that.

I've been largely silent on the Rubio issue, mostly because I just haven't been sure what the proper stance is. When I went 100% Pork Chop last year, it was because I was convinced the best thing to do was to move on from Ricky by finding an equitable trade. It wasn't because I disliked Rubio the player, or because I thought he had no value. It was because his limitations as a shooter were limiting our effectiveness at the end of games.

So Thibs comes in and sees this problem too. He decides at certain points of the game to get the ball out of Ricky's hands and into Andrew's. There have certainly been growing pains with this strategy. But unlike many of us, I believe it has generally worked out very well. It's still a work in progress but it beats Ricky running a P n R with defenders going under the screen and not having to switch. Or worse, Ricky being forced to heave up a jumper because the defense has effectively eliminated the other options.

With this strategy Thibs has tried to get the best out of Ricky while minimizing his weakness. Based on the makeup of our current roster it's a pretty good strategy in my opinion. The question becomes is it a good long term plan? We have 3 point guards and only the seldom used Tyus can potentially make a defense pay for not respecting him. I'm really curious if Thibs sees Dunn as the future, or if he wants to find that alpha point guard to add to this group.

Today, Ricky is a better Dunn than Dunn is. It makes sense to play him as long as he is here. Trading Ricky to open up the position for Dunn really doesn't accomplish anything from a point guard perspective. Maybe Thibs believes Andrew can develop into a reliable ball handling option. If he does think that we don't really need an alpha point guard. The other option is to continue to look for the offensively gifted PG and adjust if we find him.

Ricky and Dunn are too redundant for the long term. Ricky makes the most sense to trade for many reasons. If it were up to me I'd trade Ricky for the best deal you can find, preferably by adding some toughness up front. I'd work to find a starting point guard by draft, trade, or free agency, whatever works. I'd have Dunn be a jack of all trades guy backing up the 1, 2, and 3 positions. We have the assets to implement this plan.

The bottom line regarding Ricky is that he can be a very valuable player for a good team, but you have to recognize his limitations Given the presence of Dunn, I don't believe this is the best spot for Ricky any longer.

Yeah, I saw this a week or two ago.

I'm torn right now. I think it would be a great "problem" to have if Dunn was pushing Rubio for the starting gig and we could trade Rubio to the highest bidder. But man......it seems like a bit of a gamble when you look at how shaky Dunn is offensively. He's not nearly the play maker and - here is the irony - people are suggesting we should trade Ricky because of his inability to shoot, yet Dunn has been even worse!

If it were me, I'd keep Rubio at least through this offseason and hope like hell that Dunn keeps improving.

I saw this before as well but thanks for posting it Abe.

Cool and Q at this point the thing is that's Rubio probably has more value to the Wolves as he does to any other team. There are a few scenarios that could change that but none of them have come up yet. I think Thibs and Layden realize Rubio has value as a player and it doesn't make sense to dump him for nothing. That could change but I don't see it at this point and as Lowe pointed out Rubio is playing better right now.

Could Rubio be a worthwhile guy long term even as a backup? That depends largely on Dunn (the progress he can make) and also on Tyus. I hope the Wolves make the right decisions on PGs for once they have pretty much sucked in that dept plus had injury problems. It's a new franchise though so we can hope for the best.

monsterpile wrote:I saw this before as well but thanks for posting it Abe.

Cool and Q at this point the thing is that's Rubio probably has more value to the Wolves as he does to any other team. There are a few scenarios that could change that but none of them have come up yet. I think Thibs and Layden realize Rubio has value as a player and it doesn't make sense to dump him for nothing. That could change but I don't see it at this point and as Lowe pointed out Rubio is playing better right now.

Could Rubio be a worthwhile guy long term even as a backup? That depends largely on Dunn (the progress he can make) and also on Tyus. I hope the Wolves make the right decisions on PGs for once they have pretty much sucked in that dept plus had injury problems. It's a new franchise though so we can hope for the best.

I just don't see how Rubio can be happy as a backup HERE. If he was in his 30's maybe, but I can't see him accepting a demotion while he's in his prime playing for the Wolves.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I saw this before as well but thanks for posting it Abe.

Cool and Q at this point the thing is that's Rubio probably has more value to the Wolves as he does to any other team. There are a few scenarios that could change that but none of them have come up yet. I think Thibs and Layden realize Rubio has value as a player and it doesn't make sense to dump him for nothing. That could change but I don't see it at this point and as Lowe pointed out Rubio is playing better right now.

Could Rubio be a worthwhile guy long term even as a backup? That depends largely on Dunn (the progress he can make) and also on Tyus. I hope the Wolves make the right decisions on PGs for once they have pretty much sucked in that dept plus had injury problems. It's a new franchise though so we can hope for the best.

I just don't see how Rubio can be happy as a backup HERE. If he was in his 30's maybe, but I can't see him accepting a demotion while he's in his prime playing for the Wolves.

It will be interesting...

1. If the team is winning that will matter. Would he rather be a backup here or go to the next rebuilding project? He might rather play for a winner.

2. Is there really a reasonable role for him as a backup? I kinda doubt it but I won't dismiss it completely either.

3. He has said for years he wants to stay here and he likes it here etc. It would make sense for him to want to be a starter nobody is gina rip him for that. Again what opportunities for that role are their going to be? I'm not sure especially with this PG draft coming up.