The 19-year old shaggy boy point guard of Spain is staying home after all.
After weeks of debacle, Ricky Rubio have come to a decision to stay in Spain to play for Barcelona rather than fulfilling his dream of playing in the NBA. The fifth overall pick of 2009 NBA draft agreed on a six year contract with Barcelona, with a buyout clause for 2 years that allows him to join the NBA after 2 years. Despite the efforts of Minnesota president David Kahn, all went to naught after Rubio's mother team, DKV Joventut traded the latter to Barcelona together with $5 million buyout clause.
"When the season ended, I entered the draft with the intention of going to the NBA. But some things happened that kept me from being ahead of the rest and I ended up No.5, which I was happy with, but it didn't allow me the chance to go to the NBA. I tried, but in the end it wasn't to be." Rubio said. Kahn, who travelled to Spain three times just to negotiate with Rubio, actually appeared to have lured Rubio out of Barcelona before the kid changed his mind.
This just justifies one thing. The Timberwolves are screwed.
After trading Sebastian Telfair to Clippers and Randy Foye / Mike Miller to Washington in order to obtain the number 5 pick which they used to pick Rubio, Timberwolves now found themselves in a nut-shell upon learning the news. "I don't think disappointment should overshadow the big picture. Ricky is the youngest player in the draft. He'll be 20 in two years. We tried and came very close." Kahn said.
But not close enough. Add Rubio to T-Wolves previous trade busts in Michael Olowokandi, OJ Mayo and Kevin Garnett.
Foye, who have improved dramatically every year and posted career high in points and assists, was blind-sided upon his trade during the draft night. A player who was envisioned the future franchise player with Al Jefferson, was traded eventually for an 18-year old kid that they envisioned as "long-shot" to join them for 2010 season during draft night. For a team who is rebuilding when they traded Kevin Garnett for Al Jefferson, and for a team who has shown improvement the past year and even competed for a playoff spot before Jefferson went down, to trade away their starting guard is simply stupid.
Maybe Rubio's stay in Spain might be fruitful, considering he have 2 years more of improving his game before joining the big league. Maybe Flynn, who impressed scouts during summer league, can revive all Minnesota fans to come watch their game and increase sales tickets. Maybe Jefferson, who suffered an ACL last year, can come back and dominate like what he did last year. Unless these things happens this season, I envision this team to be the worst team in the NBA and bound for lottery again.
And maybe, it's better for David Kahn to call Isiah Thomas and play golf, rather than handling basketball operations. Believe me, as long as this clown is in town, Minnesota will have no hopes of reviving a doomed franchise that once a guy named "KG" built.
After weeks of debacle, Ricky Rubio have come to a decision to stay in Spain to play for Barcelona rather than fulfilling his dream of playing in the NBA. The fifth overall pick of 2009 NBA draft agreed on a six year contract with Barcelona, with a buyout clause for 2 years that allows him to join the NBA after 2 years. Despite the efforts of Minnesota president David Kahn, all went to naught after Rubio's mother team, DKV Joventut traded the latter to Barcelona together with $5 million buyout clause.
"When the season ended, I entered the draft with the intention of going to the NBA. But some things happened that kept me from being ahead of the rest and I ended up No.5, which I was happy with, but it didn't allow me the chance to go to the NBA. I tried, but in the end it wasn't to be." Rubio said. Kahn, who travelled to Spain three times just to negotiate with Rubio, actually appeared to have lured Rubio out of Barcelona before the kid changed his mind.
This just justifies one thing. The Timberwolves are screwed.
After trading Sebastian Telfair to Clippers and Randy Foye / Mike Miller to Washington in order to obtain the number 5 pick which they used to pick Rubio, Timberwolves now found themselves in a nut-shell upon learning the news. "I don't think disappointment should overshadow the big picture. Ricky is the youngest player in the draft. He'll be 20 in two years. We tried and came very close." Kahn said.
But not close enough. Add Rubio to T-Wolves previous trade busts in Michael Olowokandi, OJ Mayo and Kevin Garnett.
Foye, who have improved dramatically every year and posted career high in points and assists, was blind-sided upon his trade during the draft night. A player who was envisioned the future franchise player with Al Jefferson, was traded eventually for an 18-year old kid that they envisioned as "long-shot" to join them for 2010 season during draft night. For a team who is rebuilding when they traded Kevin Garnett for Al Jefferson, and for a team who has shown improvement the past year and even competed for a playoff spot before Jefferson went down, to trade away their starting guard is simply stupid.
Maybe Rubio's stay in Spain might be fruitful, considering he have 2 years more of improving his game before joining the big league. Maybe Flynn, who impressed scouts during summer league, can revive all Minnesota fans to come watch their game and increase sales tickets. Maybe Jefferson, who suffered an ACL last year, can come back and dominate like what he did last year. Unless these things happens this season, I envision this team to be the worst team in the NBA and bound for lottery again.
And maybe, it's better for David Kahn to call Isiah Thomas and play golf, rather than handling basketball operations. Believe me, as long as this clown is in town, Minnesota will have no hopes of reviving a doomed franchise that once a guy named "KG" built.
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