Wolves Updates 9/2

Can’t Stop Bleeding posts some video footage of the Ricky Rubio introductory press conference in Barcelona.

From Stop-n-Pop/Canis Hoopus: Sticky Ricky

From Jonah Bronstein/Niagara Gazette: BASKETBALL: Flynn would’ve liked to play with Rubio

Timberwolves president David Kahn said on Monday that Flynn will likely be the team’s starting point guard heading into training camp.

“It’s a great opportunity for me. I can step in and play a lot of minutes now,” said Flynn, who was named NBA Rookie of the Month in July following a stellar summer league performance.

“It’s tough to hear you have to wait two years to play with a great player like that. You saw what he did against the Olympic team when he was only 17 years old. Now we just have to focus on what we can do to fill that void.”

From Jerry Zgoda/Star Tribune:

Kahn returns to Minnesota empty-handed even after he had solved that formidable buyout issue with a deal believed to include Rubio’s future endorsement earnings, a portion of his future NBA earnings and such creative financing as proposed exhibition games featuring the Wolves in Spain.

Joventut officials chose the Wolves’ offer even though it did not equal Regal Barcelona’s $5.3 million cash offer — Kahn called it “competitive enough” however — presumably because Rubio’s departure to the NBA would bring the team prestige and because the Wolves are not Regal Barcelona, Joventut’s cross-town rival.

Rubio contractually had the right to approve any team transfer, and he chose Regal Barcelona. His former team released a terse statement regarding the transfer that suggested Rubio’s decision had thwarted its extensive negotiations with the Wolves.

From Ray Richardson/Pioneer Press:

Moments after learning of Rubio’s decision, Kahn called new coach Kurt Rambis and shifted his priorities to the approaching season. Flynn, who has had an impressive summer, will be the team’s starting point guard. The issue now is who will play behind the former Syracuse standout.

“We need to find a quality backup to Jonny,” Kahn said. “There could be a lot of changes at that position.”

Kahn’s decision to draft Flynn now appears to be an insightful move. Since the night of the draft, he remained consistent with the belief that Rubio could be a “long shot” for this season. But Kahn offered no regrets for taking Rubio over other first-round guard prospects such as Davidson’s Stephen Curry, who went to Golden State with the No. 7 pick.

“No regrets at all,” Kahn said. “Depending on our circumstances two years from now, he’s still the highest-value pick we could have made. At the end of the day, he’s still ours.”

From Jonathan Abrams/New York Times:

Kahn’s outlook on the process remains optimistic. When Rubio decides to begin his N.B.A. career, Kahn figures that he will be more mature and a better player. And Kahn can take comfort in knowing that the Timberwolves hold his rights in perpetuity.

“At the end of the day, he is still ours,” Kahn said. “Not in uniform yet, but he is still ours.”

From Charley Walters/Pioneer Press:

It was the lack of contractual guarantees and complex tax issues, plus having to pay a portion of his future salary for several years as part of a buyout with the DKV Joventut Spanish basketball team, that caused top draft pick Ricky Rubio to forgo an opportunity to play with the Timberwolves this season and instead accept a $1.45 million-per-year deal to play in Barcelona, according to El Mundo Deportivo. Rubio was paid $97,000 last season by DKV Joventut.

From Keloland.com:

The Timberwolves got some bad news Monday night. Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, whom Minnesota traded up to take fifth overall in the NBA Draft, told the team he’d prefer to stay in Spain for two more years, to better prepare himself for the NBA.

If the Timberwolves’ front office is frustrated, they aren’t voicing it publicly.

“We still like what we did on draft night with Ricky,” assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg said Tuesday in Sioux Falls. “He’ll be over here as a 20 year old, and his body will be more mature, his game will be more mature, and he should be ready to step in and make an impact right away.”

From Jim Souhan/Star Tribune: Reality for giddy Wolves fans: The flashy kid would be no quick fix for a ballclub set on long-term rebuilding.

From Sean Deveney/The Baseline: Debunking Tall Tales Surrounding Rubio

1. The Timberwolves bungled this. No way. The Timberwolves were handicapped from the beginning, because NBA rules only allow teams to put $500,000 toward a buyout of a foreign contract. Working against that limitation, Kahn did a heck of a job drumming up enough sponsorships and side deals to get Joventut to release Rubio from his contract. In fact, Kahn had the deal done—Joventut was prepared to let Rubio come to the Timberwolves. But on Monday, it was Rubio, not Joventut, who stopped the deal. He simply decided he wanted to play two years for Barcelona, his hometown.

Rubio is young and the Timberwolves will be able to bring him to the NBA in 2011. “He is 18,” Kahn said. “Depending what our circumstance is two years from now, depending on what the league’s circumstance is two years from now, I continue to believe that this was the best value pick we could have made.”

Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!

Wolves Updates 9/2

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper