Minnesota Timberwolves: Curious Situation Without Rubio
The severe ankle sprain to Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio throws a bit of a wet blanket on what has been a nice start to both his and the team’s season. It may not be a revelation record-wise, but the Wolves so far are playing better than I figured they would and staying competitive every game while getting their young guys pretty reasonable minutes. This injury is a stifling blow.
Rubio was averaging nine points, 10 assists and six rebounds per game through the young season. He had also boosted his field goal percentage to 43 percent, which is a significant improvement from his career percentage of 37 percent. He was integral in putting Andrew Wiggins and Gorgui Dieng and the other young players in good spots and places where they felt comfortable.
I said in an earlier column that Rubio’s most important job this season was making sure those guys were in the best position to succeed. I’m not a huge Rubio guy, and I questioned the contract they just signed him to relative to some others, but I fully believe in his ability to use his basketball intelligence for the benefit and fast-track growth of other players.
Now it appears that Rubio could miss two months with the injury. I remarked a couple of weeks ago that the Wolves needed to find a way to streamline some of their depth so that the young players could get the minutes they needed. Point guard was not one of those spots, but it looks as if the injury will now require that capable Mo Williams be the starter and super raw Zach LaVine, who had not played in three of the first four games before the injury, as the backup.
Of course, that was my thought. It seemed like the logical option with a solid veteran in Williams. But it was LaVine who started in Rubio’s place on Saturday night. I wasn’t able to see the game and when I checked the box score later that evening, it showed that LaVine got the start. It was a shock. It’s going to be something to watch if LaVine is going to be the primary point guard for the next eight weeks.
I can’t imagine that the Wolves are going to ask LaVine to do too much. They obviously want Mo Williams in that scoring sixth man role but I am curious as to whether that takes precedent over the need for a veteran floor leader, especially on a team with young players in such prominent roles.
Do they hope that he shows enough flashes in that period so they know they’ve got something? They obviously have high hopes, and I desperately want him to get minutes, but it does spell trouble when a player that doesn’t play is suddenly your starting point guard.
So what does this now mean for the Wolves during the next two months? Well, I’m really excited to watch LaVine and see if he can show me a little Russell Westbrook (which I know the Wolves saw as a super-athletic, raw combo guard who didn’t even start at UCLA; they saw it). But it would be foolish to think that LaVine can simply come in and play the part of an experienced, seasoned NBA point guard who sees the floor like, frankly, this raw team needs from its point guard.
But, excitement aside, what we can expect is probably more isolation offense and less open looks for Andrew Wiggins and Kevin Martin, although Martin may take it upon himself to carry the load without a real facilitator. The loser is probably Wiggins, who will have to make his own offense and struggle with efficiency.
While it may not be a pretty eight weeks, it will be a young player showcase; that’s what the viewers want. Of course, last week I just questioned Rubio’s inflated contract and this scene may be just what I need to concede that he is worth every ounce of that deal.