First Round:
Wolves take Ricky Rubio at #5
Wolves take Jonny Flynn at #6
Wolves take Ty Lawson at #18 (traded to Denver for a future first-round draft pick acquired from Charlotte)
Wolves take Wayne Ellington at #28
Second Round:
Wolves take Nick Calathes at #45 (traded to Dallas for second-round pick in 2010 and cash considerations)
Wolves take Henk Norel at #47
The Timberwolves went guard-crazy by selecting backcourt players with their first four picks at Nos. 5, 6, 18 and 28.
Using the fifth overall selection obtained from the Washington Wizards, the T’wolves took point guard Ricky Rubio, 18, of Spain, considered the plum of the draft at the one-guard position.
A terrific passer in the mold of the late Pete Maravich, Rubio, 6-4, has tremendous upside for a rebuilding franchise and a confident attitude to match: “I’m Ricky Rubio— I’m not like anybody else,” he told ESPN.
The Wolves took Syracuse sophomore Jonny Flynn, a natural scorer who can penetrate. With their third pick, they chose North Carolina’s Ty Lawson, who was traded to the Nuggets for a first-round draft choice in 2010. Minnesota also drafted North Carolina’s Wayne Ellington, a lights-out shooter who helps replace recently traded Randy Foye.
It was an eruption inside Target Center at the fan party when David Stern called Ricky Rubio’s name out for the Wolves.
You sure didn’t hear that often last winter.
It took about a second for that “Ole, ole, ole” soccer chant to resonate through NBA City.
Minutes later, the Wolves took Jonny Flynn of Syracuse next.
Two point guards?
What’s up with that?
“I truly believe these kids can play together,” Kahn said, citing the long-ago backcourt of Boston’s Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas as two similar examples. “Great players like playing with other great players.”
Flynn’s addition provides insurance if Rubio cannot play next season because of a $6.6 million contract buyout with his Spanish pro team. His representatives are negotiating to get that lowered. The Wolves by NBA rules can pay only $500,000. The rest comes out of Rubio’s pocket, and he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars Thursday by being picked fifth rather than second or third.
“Yes, it’s a big problem,” said Rubio, who has said he would play in the NBA next season essentially for “free” but admitted staying in Europe another season is an option. “Yes, I want to play in the NBA.”
Rubio expressed no enthusiasm — “It’s too cold, but I hear they have a good team,” he said — about coming to Minnesota.
It was an interesting few minutes to watch as people wondered to themselves what the Timberwolves were thinking. Even Kevin Love tweeted, “What are we doing?”
“We got a kick out of it when it happened,” Kahn said. “We knew it was going to have everybody going nuts.”
A few minutes after the selection, it was announced the Timberwolves traded Lawson to the Denver Nuggets for a protected first-round pick in the 2010 draft. Kahn said with the 18th pick he felt there was not a player available that he really fell in love with. The better option for him was to get another pick for next year’s draft.
Two picks later at No. 47, the Wolves chose Norel. He played on the same professional team in Spain as Minnesota’s fifth overall pick, Ricky Rubio.
They also traded one of their second round selections, Florida guard Nick Calathes, to the Dallas Mavericks for a second-round pick in 2010 and cash.
“Our season-ticket renewals will go up 10 percent in the next few days,” Wolves President Chris Wright said shortly after Rubio and Flynn were picked Thursday night.
Before Thursday, the Wolves had about 6,000 full season-ticket equivalents.
About 2,000 spectators attended the free-admission Wolves draft party at Target Center Thursday night, and they cheered loudly with the selection of Rubio, 18, a flashy point guard from Spain.
As for Flynn, from Syracuse, he impressed the Wolves during a predraft workout by playing tenacious defense against Memphis guard Tyreke Evans despite giving up six inches in height. Evans was picked No. 4 overall by Sacramento.
Flynn joked that he would have the edge on Rubio in terms of dealing with Minnesota’s winter weather.
“He’s coming from Spain. I don’t think it ever snows there,” Flynn said. “I can give him what kind of clothes to buy and what snow shoes to buy and things like that. It will be fun.”
“I feel happy, excited, relieved,” said a tearful Ellington. “I’m going to make the most of the opportunity.”
Some mock drafts had Ellington going in the middle of the first round. “That’s OK,” he said. “It’s going to make me work harder to get where I want to be and to prove wrong the teams that didn’t take me.”
That probably isn’t going to work, but Kahn’s hyperactivity has grabbed our attention and ensured that the Wolves’ next losing season will be more interesting than their last.
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