Minnesota Timberwolves: 2016-17 Season Outlook

Three Key Storylines: 1. The Future Of Rubio

While Thibs and the Timberwolves reportedly tried to send the No. 5 overall pick and someone from the LaVine/Dieng/Muhammad core to Chicago for Jimmy Butler on draft night, they might have lucked out when the Bulls shot them down; that’s how good Kris Dunn could become.

Gifted with explosive athleticism and an insatiable competitive fire, Dunn is like a defensive-minded, poor man’s Russell Westbrook. After averaging 16.4 points, 6.2 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in his senior season at Providence, Dunn will be on a mission to assert himself as the team’s point guard of the future.

If he can sustain the 37.2 percent three-point shooting he posted last year, Dunn has all the tools to carve out a niche for himself in this league, even while playing for a coach like Thibs who notoriously glues rookies to the bench.

Dunn’s defense gives him a chance at substantial minutes, but for now, the ball is in Ricky Rubio’s court. He’s the better defender, facilitator and all-around player at his point, and at age 25, he’s only three years older than Dunn.

His timeline doesn’t perfectly align with that of Towns and Wiggins, but it’s worth noting that since Rubio joined Minnesota, the Wolves are 114-164 (.410) in games he’s played…as opposed to an atrocious 28-88 in games he’s missed (.241).

Rubio has never been able to live up to the excessive pre-draft hype that surrounded him when he first entered the league, especially with it now being common knowledge that Minnesota took him (and Jonny Flynn) over Stephen Curry in that draft.

But he’s a far better player than people realize, and despite his well-documented flaws when it comes to shooting the ball, his defense, facilitating and experience will be useful to this young Wolves team in 2016-17.

Whether he’s traded down the line or eventually replaced by Dunn in the starting lineup, Rubio can help shepherd the Timberpups into a new era. Or, ideally, he and Dunn can learn to play together in the same backcourt and they can both be a part of a championship contender in a few years.

The only question is whether he gets the chance to prove his long-term value this season, especially with a hungry rookie like Kris Dunn applying the pressure and Rubio’s name appearing in trade rumors as recently as last year’s trade deadline.

The Wolves should give the pair a chance to co-exist with Rubio on such a team-friendly contract for the next three years, but unless these two both develop into average perimeter shooters overnight, it feels like the clock may be winding down on Rubio’s time in Minnesota.

Next: Storyline 2: Is This A Dark Horse Playoff Team?