When the Wolves limp to the lottery this season while Rubio toils in Barcelona, the boo birds and the bandwagon-leavers will be in ascendance. If the same can be said two or three years from now, then the smart, die-hard fans of this franchise will follow them. Until then, judgments about a roster that has been extensively dismantled and partially rebuilt seem as premature as the prognoses about the fate of Rubio’s career.
In today’s edition of El Periodico, the Spanish daily reports that DKV has accepted in principle a buyout of Rubio’s contract for $5.3 million, and that Joventut’s board of directors will meet Friday to ratify the deal. And this morning, Kahn wrote in an e-mail, “My comment from yesterday stands.”
Sources close to Rubio’s situation in the NBA said yesterday that nothing was close with anyone, that Ricky has not signed or agreed to any terms and that the reports from Spain were seriously premature. The belief in the NBA is the Barcelona leaked the terms of their offer to garner support for their efforts, even if turned away by Joventut – they can always tell their fans “we tried.”
Joventut can sell Rubio’s contract at any time and simply divest themselves from Ricky. Barcelona would only make such a deal if they had a new agreement in place securing Rubio and sources both inside the Timberwolves and inside Rubio’s NBA camp are steadfast that Ricky has not agreed to anything with anyone.
Another NBA sophomore, Love turned up the statistical heat in the absence of injured teammate Al Jefferson last season.
The former UCLA star finished the year at 11.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, but checked in at 15 and 10 over the T-Wolves’ last 22 games.
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