Minnesota Timberwolves: Can Ricky Rubio Lead?

There was a time last season when I was watching the Minnesota Timberwolves, resigned to the fact that Kevin Love was just playing out his sentence and going through the motions with a team that was, frankly, following his lead. It was hardly impending doom, and there were positive signs, but I just had a bit of a hollow feeling.

It wasn’t just the inevitability of Love, either.

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A good part of my pessimism stemmed from watching

Ricky Rubio

. He’s still fun. He’s still part-marvel. In my mind he still has a bit of that mythical-figure quality that he had during the draft process. Back then, our only frame of reference was the Olympics and the countless scouting reports that labeled him a storm ready to attack the NBA and make us reevaluate everything we knew about the modern point guard.

That aura of mysticism, though, has shrunk a bit. Honestly, that’s what shooting at a 37 percent clip for your career will do. Now Rubio was never going to be an elite shooter and those glowing scouting reports never said as much, but they did claim that he had room for marked improvement while providing spectacular playmaking skills and really good defense.

It was going to be a tradeoff that any team could surmise was worth the gamble, especially if his team could surround him with good shooters.

I wouldn’t be dense enough to claim that the Wolves have put Rubio in the optimal situation to succeed these past three seasons. I think much of the time he has made players look better than they actually are. He’s shown the kind of playmaking flashes to make everyone believe, including the Wolves who are currently offering a contract extension of four years, $48 million, that he is a big time guy.

A max deal, which is coveted, seems laughable given his career arc so far, but that is a topic for another analysis.

The question now is whether Rubio, as a real elder statesman among the Wolves, is the guy to lead this group and whether his role may change at all. It is taking an unreasonable leap to think that he will suddenly develop into even an average shooter. While he has improved his shooting percentage each season in the league, the improvements have been modest, from .357 to .360 to .380. I think that it is reasonable to hope to incremental improvement but concede that Rubio will never be a player that a team can count on for his offensive output.

But, given the state of the Wolves youth and inexperience, will Rubio have to step up in that department? I don’t think coach Flip Saunders will ask that of him. If I had to make a blueprint of the point guard that I would want for a team that a getting a huge influx of talent and athleticism, I would ask for a great passer and playmaker who sees the floor and can put young players in positions that can maximize what they do well.

I mean, the Wolves don’t have Chris Paul, but I think Rubio fits that profile nicely. I think he may relish the opportunity to take on something of a mentor role with more of an up-tempo team that can also play to what he does best.

The Wolves recently hired a full-time shooting coach to help Rubio and the others. This certainly can’t hurt, but I can’t imagine that it is going to morph Rubio into a dependable outside shooter. In that department, I’m afraid that he is what he is.

I may have called that a problem previously, but these new players have shifted both my view for the team philosophy and Rubio’s role within in. I hope the Wolves can see Rubio as the ultimate weapon in a running offense and the man to accelerate the careers of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, and Co. I think he’ll do a great job.

But the Wolves will need to decide if that is worth the max. That will be open to a lively debate.

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Minnesota Timberwolves: Can Ricky Rubio Lead These Guys?

By Michael Modahl | Oct 16, 2014