With trade rumors swirling, let’s decide whether or not the Minnesota Timberwolves should either trade or keep their polarizing point guard Ricky Rubio.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Ricky Rubio is one of the most divisive players in the NBA.
You either appreciate his all-around impact and the intangibles he brings, or think he’s a “trash” player without a J living off of his impractical pre-draft hype.
If you are a part of the latter contingent, I wouldn’t exactly blame you, as the many ways Rubio affect the game are not usually evident to the naked eye. Meanwhile, his anecdotal stats are often marred by some ugly shooting numbers and low point totals.
The above justly explains the Rubio conundrum: the ones who watch him regularly in detail (Minnesota Timberwolves fans) absolutely adore him, while outsiders generally undervalue the impact the Spanish heartthrob has on winning.
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To be more specific, in addition to his clairvoyant vision and ballhandling wizardry, Pretty Ricky is also one of the league’s premier defensive point guards.
His rare concoction of unrelenting hustle, deft anticipation and exceptional on-court awareness routinely makes the lives of the NBA’s elite echelon of floor generals — in particular, the John Walls and Stephen Currys of the world — a living hell.
Unsurprisingly, the fiery point guard ranked atop of most advanced defensive metrics (such as Defensive RPM and Defensive Box Plus-Minus) this season among point guards, despite the team’s lack of proficiency on that end of the floor.
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The Wolves, on the aggregate, were/are a much better team when Rubio is running the show, as the young pups were approximately 8.3 points per 100 possessions better when the slender 6’4″ floor general was on the court, per
.
For those who knock his outside shooting and interior finishing, Rubio — who was fully healthy for the first time since his rookie season this past year — has improved dramatically in both areas.
In fact, according to NBA.com, Ricky converted on 36.9 percent of his 3-point attempts post-All-Star break, with most of them coming in the form of catching-and-shooting.
Likewise, he also shot at a 51.3 percent clip at the rim this past season, which marked a dramatic improvement when compared to his first four years (33.9).
This is not to mention how much his passing and ability to control pace help enhance the games of Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and, in particular, Zach LaVine, whose open-court speed and deadeye spot-up shooting perfectly complements the flashy Spaniard’s aforementioned strengths.
Such impact and implicit competencies should theoretically fit hand-in-hand with new Wolves headman Tom Thibodeau’s core values. After all, Rubio is essentially Kirk Hinrich, a renowned coach Thibs favorite, on steroids.
For that reason, it came to somewhat a surprise to many when news circulated of Minnesota’s unadulterated willingness to dangle Rubio in recent trade talks.
To cap things off, Thibs and the Wolves’ new regime essentially drafted his replacement-in-waiting in Kris Dunn this past Thursday night, and would have preferred to part with the team’s most impactful player, instead of LaVine, in the rumored Jimmy Butler trade with the Chicago Bulls.
Minnesota has been shopping Ricky Rubio throughout the week. His future in Minnesota is likely coming to an end.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2016
Vertical Sources: Chicago and Minnesota talks for Jimmy Butler broke down. Bulls wanted Zach LaVine, not Ricky Rubio.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2016
However, since draft night, trade talks between Thibs’ former and incumbent teams have broken down; but now the Wolves face an impending, although not immediate, question: should, and will, the Wolves hand the keys to the car to Dunn? And if so, how soon?
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In addition to being a defensive mad genius, Thibodeau is also known to be
If history is any indication, coach Thibs prefers his lead guards to be explosive and scoring-minded — a type of player he can mold Dunn to be.
Rubio is almost the antithesis of your atypical Thibs point.
But, as mentioned earlier, Thibs routinely plugged Hinrich in whenever the Bulls needed a shot of toughness and defense — a role Rubio can potentially play down the line. Whether Ricky will accept such a diminished role will be another question.
Can Dunn and Rubio play together? Well, with their track history as shooters, one would quickly insinuate “no”. However, if Ricky’s improved shooting over the latter part of last season becomes a trend, such an event could change all of that.
It should be mentioned that Dunn has experience playing off of the ball as well. More explicitly, during the past season with Providence, the team routinely went with a two-guard front with him and freshmen Kyron Cartwright manning the backcourt.
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So should Ricky Rubio stay or should he go? I vote for stay, as his unconventional impact is seldom found and not easily duplicated.