NBA Trade Grades: Timberwolves send Ricky Rubio to Jazz

Looking for an upgrade at the point guard position, the Minnesota Timberwolves have decided to send Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz. Here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.

After leaving Ricky Rubio on the trade block for years, the Minnesota Timberwolves may have finally found their resolution.

As first reported by Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, the Wolves have agreed to send their Spanish floor general to the Utah Jazz.

According to Spencer Checketts of the the Zone Sports Network, the Jazz will be sending a 2018 first round pick (via the Oklahoma City Thunder) back to Minnesota.

That pick is lottery-protected.

Though Rubio remains a highly underrated point guard, especially on the defensive end of the floor, the Wolves have been searching for an upgrade at that spot for quite some time. The Jazz, meanwhile, look to add passing, defense and stability at the point guard position with George Hill being an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The question is, which side won the deal? Who is expected to replace Rubio as the Timberwolves’ new starting point guard? And how will Rubio’s arrival impact the free agency of Gordon Hayward? To sort it all out, here are NBA Trade Grades for both sides.

Minnesota Timberwolves

With the arrival of Jimmy Butler and another year under the belts of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota continues its long-running search for a more elite point guard. In order to do so, Rubio had to go.

Finding an upgrade for one of the most important positions in the league makes sense on paper, but it’s also a little ironic the Timberwolves shipped off a point guard whose skill-set — outside of his paltry perimeter shooting — is tailor-made for their biggest needs next season.

The Wolves ranked 10th in offensive rating last year at 108.1 points per 100 possessions, and with a go-to scoring option like Butler entering the fold, a pass-first point guard like Rubio could’ve done wonders with all those offensive weapons flanked around him. In other words, offense and Rubio’s lack of three-point shooting were hardly this team’s biggest problems.

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Rather, the majority of the blame lies with Minnesota’s defense, which ranked 26th in the association, giving up 109.1 points per 100 possessions. Rubio, who is one of the league’s most underrated defenders, was also one of their few saving graces on that end of the floor.

It’s entirely possible the Timberwolves are able to find a major upgrade from Rubio, a career 31.5 percent shooter from downtown. After all, three-point shooting is another area of need for a team that finished dead last in both three-point attempts and makes last season.

Neither Butler nor Wiggins are proficient three-point shooters and after trading away Zach LaVine, keeping Rubio with that trio might have given Jimmy Buckets unpleasant flashbacks to his final days in Chicago playing as part of the Three Alphas.

To replace Rubio in free agency, Kyle Lowry is one possible option that would justify this trade. He’d make for a star-studded core that could launch Minnesota into the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

However, according to multiple reports, Jeff Teague is one name that could emerge as the Timberwolves’ new starting point guard, which would really only be adding fast-paced offense and below-average defense to a roster that already had plenty of both last season.

ESPN‘s Marc Stein reported that the New York Knicks have abandoned their pursuit of Teague, convinced he will sign with the Timberwolves.

According to The Vertical‘s Chris Mannix, Rajon Rondo (gulp) could be another option, though that would hardly make sense.

Trading away a pass-first, defensive-minded point guard who can’t shoot, only to sign a pass-first point guard who can’t shoot AND doesn’t play great defense, would be a major mistake.

But wait, there’s more! ESPN‘s Ramona Shelburne warned not to sleep on a Tom Thibodeau reunion with Derrick Rose either. Boy, it must be nice living in 2011 still.

All in all, unless the Timberwolves get a bonafide star at that position like Kyle Lowry (or, possibly a slight upgrade like George Hill), this trade feels like a step backward, even if it’s ultimately a necessary one to provide floor-spacing.

True enough, the Wolves did well to secure a first-round pick in return, which should convey as long as the Russell Westbrook stays healthy for the one-man show in Oklahoma City next season.

But a pick in the late teens or early 20s is hardly valuable, and given how Rubio’s distribution and defense were a great match for this improving roster, it’ll take a terrific replacement signing to bump this grade above mere passing marks.

Grade: C+

Utah Jazz

On the one hand, the Utah Jazz got a touch worse with this trade. Rubio and George Hill are both stout defenders, but Hill brought the perimeter touch that Rubio will not.

Hill is coming off a terrific year in Utah, averaging a career-high 16.9 points per game on .477/.403 shooting splits. Compared to Rubio’s 11.1 points per game on .402/.306/.891 shooting splits, it’s pretty clear who the better scorer and shooter was, which is important for a Jazz offense that ranked 12th in offensive rating despite its slow pace.

However, Rubio has three vast advantages over Hill, Teague, Lowry, Jrue Holiday or any other point guard hitting the free agency market this summer: His facilitation, his age and his contract.

Last year, Rubio averaged a career-high 9.1 assists per game, trumping Hill’s 4.2, Lowry’s 7.0 Holiday’s 7.3 or even Teague’s 7.8 per game. Rubio is also only 26 years old, making him younger than Holiday (27), Teague (29), Hill (31) and Lowry (31).

Finally, Rubio is slated to make $29.2 million over the next two seasons (about $14.6 million annually). You can be guaranteed all four of the aforementioned players will make way more than that.

With only a few hours before the Jazz lost about $16 million in cap space — stemming from not signing Hill to an extension at the start of the season, which means his cap hold will put Utah over the salary cap after the moratorium period — they needed to find a replacement for their point guard. This is why the Jazz were able to absorb Rubio’s deal without sending matching salary.

The trade obviously signals Utah is not confident in its ability to re-sign George Hill, or that they don’t want to overpay for the services of a 31-year-old point guard who missed 33 games last year due to a variety of injuries.

Rubio can’t shoot, but if the Jazz are able to keep Hayward — and a little stability at the point guard position should help there, with Hayward’s unrestricted free agency and Joe Ingles‘ restricted free agency leaving things feeling very up in the air — this could be a great addition.

As ESPN‘s Kevin Pelton points out, the Jazz can get back under the salary cap line by waiving Boris Diaw‘s $7.5 million non-guaranteed salary and finding a way to trade Alec Burks and the remaining two years, $20 million on his contract.

Giving up a pick in the 20s is more than worth the ideal presence Rubio will bring to Quin Snyder’s third-ranked defense. Though his lack of a perimeter shot hurts, the Spanish floor general will get the chance to prove his true worth on a more competitive squad (assuming Hayward re-signs).

Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far

Even without Hayward, Rubio is an underrated floor general on a below-market value contract, and represents a superior alternative to re-signing a 31-year-old, injury-prone George Hill to a lengthy deal.

Grade: A-