Ricky Rubio on his way to Minnesota Timberwolves – NBA Update
The saga of Ricky Rubio’s move to the Minnesota Timberwolves took another, and hopefully the last, turn as reports emerged that Rubio will indeed be joining the Timberwolves next season, whenever the season might begin.
Ricky Rubio is a Spanish point guard who first came to prominence in the Olympics. Rubio played in the Spain team against the United States and impressed players such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
He was then picked by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2009 NBA Draft as the 5th overall pick. However Ricky Rubio already had a contract with Barcelona and he did not want to take the financial hit of buying out of
it.
Therefore Rubio stayed with the Spanish club for the last two years while the Timberwolves waited for his arrival. Around a month ago rumours started doing the rounds that Ricky Rubio and the Minnesota Timberwolves had agreed on
the move and the player will join the club next season.
With the Timberwolves missing out on the first pick in this year’s NBA Draft and subsequently on the talented point guard Kyrie Irving, who will now most likely go to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Rubio’s arrival gained added significance.
However just days ago news surfaced that the player still may decide to stay in Spain. Rubio was on the Barcelona team that won the Spanish title and after the victory Ricky refused to commit his future one way or the other.
He revealed that he was still talking with Barcelona and the future will become clearer later. The report was seen as a major setback for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The latest reports however say that Rubio will indeed join the Timberwolves next season. A source privy to information of the negotiations revealed that Ricky Rubio had already signed a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves
and will play for the side when the next NBA season starts.
The only remaining hurdle in the move is believed to be Ricky’s contract with Barcelona. The contract has a $1.2 million buyout. Under the current NBA rules regarding these matters the Minnesota Timberwolves can only pay $500,000
of the buyout money. The rest will have to come out of Rubio’s pockets.
The talks with Barcelona that Ricky alluded to in his latest comments are supposed to be regarding the NBA labour dispute. The NBA is heading for a lockout next season and a lot of games could be lost as a result. Ricky is believed
to want to play with Barcelona rather than remain idle during the lockout.