Had Rubio been a top three pick, he could have more easily afforded to pay Joventut to release him, a source said. But the difference in salary between third and fifth in the draft is roughly $600,000 a year. Joventut reportedly is asking for no less than $4 million for his release.
Going to another European team is not a realistic option because that team would want a long-term commitment from Rubio and his desire remains to play in the NBA, a source said. Whether he can do that next season or when his Joventut contract expires two years from now is the question.
In any case, Rubio apparently has no objections to playing in Minnesota.
“This isn’t about Minnesota,” a source said. “It’s about the buyout.”
Here’s a couple quick things David Kahn had to say by text message from Vegas this afternoon on these two most pressing matters:
Regarding meetings yesterday involving him, Wolves owner Glen Taylor and agent Dan Fegan — he and Fegan met twice, once with Taylor there – he called them “merely an opportunity for me to introduce the two of them to each other, nothing more.”
He also said he will finish his first round of coaching interviews with two tomorrow and said he still has no timetable for naming a new head coach.
“If he had to pay [the $4.9 million],” a source close to the situation said, “it would be like he was playing his first two years [in the NBA] for free.”
League rules prevent Minnesota from contributing more than $500,000 to the buyout, so all the Timberwolves can do is be supportive. However, it is looking more and more like Rubio will be playing in Europe next season, likely on a one-year contract.
“It’s a big number,” Kahn said. “It is a challenge. To the extent that we can be helpful and supportive, that’s what we will do.”
STUDS: Jonny Flynn may be a little undersized at the point – his 6’0” listing is extremely generous, but his quickness and court vision were on display in the first game of the day. His 12 points and 14 assists were impressive, as was the shooting of backcourt mate Wayne Ellington, who scored a game-high 22 points on 8-14 shooting. Ellington needed a strong showing after going 2-for-12 in his first summer league game.
Oleksiy Pecherov looked winded at times, but he certainly filled the stat sheet, recording 15 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 3-of-4 from three.
Wayne Ellington was on fire in the first half bouncing back nicely from a horrible (2-12) shooting performance yesterday (22 pts 8/14 fg).
Now Pech, Etan Thomas, and Darius Songaila are in Minnesota, and of the three of them, Pech is the only one on the Timberwolves’ Summer League team. The Summer League T-wolves, now 0-2 on the season, aren’t quite getting it done, but Pech picked up 15 points and 10 rebounds in their last game Monday afternoon in a loss to the D-League Select Team
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