He said don’t read anything regarding the Ricky Rubio situation into this trade.
“This is not a precursor of any sort,” Kahn said from New York, where he was changing planes bound for Spain. “I have no feel yet whether Ricky will be joining us next season or not.”
He said his Spain trip will delay his hiring of a coach by up to a week and said it will be done by the end of July or beginning of August.
He said three or four candidates — he hasn’t decided if he will interview again a fourth coach — have advanced to the second round of interviews.
“Four or five days lost is not the end of the world, I believe,” he said. “I still think we can bring this to a conclusion, if not by the end of the month, then by the start of next month.”
Kahn said he hoped to meet with Rubio, who is training in Spain, while opening a dialogue with Rubio’s Spanish employers about lowering the reported $6.6 million contract buyout that threatens to keep the 18-year-old point guard in Europe next season.
“I hope that I can be helpful,” Kahn said. “We had a phone call last week with members of the club,” he said. “Not the club president. I introduced myself by phone last week and told them I thought it would be an important step in the process (to meet) and I’m hopeful in some small way we can keep the process moving forward.”
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