Here is the link to Charley Walters news break over at the Pioneer Press.
Key Excerpt:
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ top draft pick, Ricky Rubio, 18, will remain in Spain to play for his DKV Joventut basketball team for the remaining two years of his contract rather than try to move to the NBA this season, El Periodico reported today.
The Barcelona newspaper also says Rubio, who was paid $97,000 last season, plans to withdraw his contract lawsuit against DKV Joventut.
More updates to follow, stay tuned Wolves fans!
UPDATE #1: My intial thoughts are that this isn’t the best news for the Wolves, but more importantly it’s far from the worst news in that he could have tried to force a trade or do the unthinkable and sit out a year. Now drafting Flynn looks pretty good too. What are your thoughts? Comment below.
UPDATE #2: And now the word is this is just a ploy by Rubio to negotiate down his buyout. Zgoda’s take over at the Strib including Kahn being quoted as texting him that it’s not that significant. More to come tomorrow I’m sure.
This actually could be a really savvy ploy, especially if what David Kahn has been saying so far is part of it.
****Moved conversation to new post….
Well, all in all, I am still not sure in general if Ricky has any idea himself what he will do eventually.
I had just a comment about the spin that is now put on Flynn – if Flynn was not drafted then we might not be in this situation here, but who knows. If Ricky goes to play out his 6M USD buyout (that is how I see it), then the decision can be postponed for 2 years then. Yet, still this is not so clear situation with Rubio – he is highly coveted guy in Europe and Real Madrid with Ettore Messina is willing to have him. So I would not rule out the fact that he is offered some sick money in Europe and he stays there and Wolves might end up just wasting the No.5 pick in this draft on a guy who after 2 years with Joventut stays in Europe eventually. Same like Orlando with Fran Vazquez a while ago. Just my 2 cents.
I think within the next year, David Stern should look into allowing NBA teams to pour more into buying out foreign contracts. The foreign market-to NBA is only going to grow and it would be worth negotiating better. I hope Ricky puts on some weight in the next two years, so he comes to The States with an NBA (or close to it) ready body. This situation also takes some pressure off of Jonny Flynn next season and could free up more space in the next couple seasons.
If this news is true, and is the result of Rubio not wanting to play for the Wolves, the Wolves should trade him while his value is high.
If the Rubio wants to play for the Wolves, but the $6million buyout is the obstacle, the Wolves are still at risk of him going to a European team willing to pay top dollar. Remember the rumors of Kobe considering going to play in Europe.
It kills me that the T-Wolves backcourt could have been Flynn and Curry next year, and as of right now, if will be Flynn and Ellington with Telfair as the only backup guard. How does Kahn spin this?
Bring back Shaddy! He could fill the void at the off-guard position! Just kidding. I’m glad he’s gone.
If Rubio really is staying in Spain for two years, I wish we would’ve drafted Curry at #6 and Lawson or Maynor at 18 and kept that player. Curry can play off-guard and Lawson/Maynor may turn out to be just as good, or better, than Flynn. Of course, Kahn couldn’t know what would happen on draft day, but given the enormous pool of point guards, I wish he would’ve addressed the two guard position at #6 after having drafted Rubio. Demar DeRozen would’ve been a fine gamble at six too.
As long as Kahn is not held hostage and forced into a rash move, I can live with this as a wolves fan. Let’s see what Flynn has. Unfortunately, another pg is the early favorite as the number one pick next year and the wolves seem to be positioning themselves to finally win the lottery.
I wouldn’t take this news to mean that Rubio is not coming to the NBA this year. This is also the first logical step to negotiating down the buyout, so the news is ambiguous at best. His spanish team seems to have some money problems, so Rubio is worth much more to them in Minnesota than in Spain. They have a strong interest to accept a buyout amount that is less than the contractual amount, but more than the value of the extra tickets, etc. that they would sell if Rubio played for them for a year or two. Since the spanish club seemed very offended by the lawsuit, dropping the suit may be necessary to start negotiations. Be patient.
I completely agree with Jared, plus even if he has to play one year, that gives him a very good shot at coming to the Wolves in the 2010-11 season, we just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
The other consideration is the time-value of NBA money. The longer he waits to start his NBA career, the longer he waits until his likely-to-be very lucrative second NBA contract. There is also, of course, the risk of injury that could keep him from getting that second contract. And the longer he plays abroad, the larger the injury risk because the time until the second contract increases.
Dropping the lawsuit means Joventut will now consider renegotiating the buyout.
Joventut need that money. The worst thing that could happen from their point of view finanically is Rubio playing two seasons and walking away.
I don’t expect Rubio in MN this summer, but this course of action may get him in the NBA quicker than dragging his club through the Spanish Courts.
I also believe that Rubio dropping the lawsuit is a good sign. I’m 100% percent sure that Joventud is willing to negociate his buyout, simply because its value is completely absurd, given what Rubio earned last season (less than US$ 200 K). It’s very likely that the Spanish court’s decision would have lowered the buyout amount, and both Rubio and his team know that.
The payment of the buyout is the best scenario for Joventud, and I’m pretty sure they will lower such amount to a value Rubio may afford. Let’s not forget that the Spanish tax authorities have a big interest on this matter as well, as Joventud has major tax debts.
Talk to Donnie Walsh about trading Rubio and Cardinal for Chandler, Duhon, and Cash. We plug Chandler into the 3, Duhon either starts or backs up Flynn, we get cap relief with Cardinal off the books and we get some cash. We could also require NY to replace Duhon with Hughes.
Jefferson, Love, Chandler, Hughes, Flynn is a much better starting 5 than last season. that is a team that could do some damage. We could also get NY to take back Gomes?
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The Knicks have nothing we need. At all.
Trading Rubio now is the best way to ensure we get 70c on the dollar for him.
Cardinal and Duhon are both expiring, so the cap situation is effectively a wash. I wouldn’t so that deal.
DRF- You’re clearly a Knicks fan. That deal barely nets a team Bassy.
Oh, and we could get the Knicks to take back Gomes? Ryan isn’t a throw in we need to get rid of, he’s a high quality rotation player on any team- and he’s got a nice contract.
The fact is that the Knicks have nothing, nothing, that is of value for Rubio. Your best players are free agents who you aren’t going to be able to bring back because you’re too inclined to back up a Brink’s truck to the Jersey home of a thirty-six year-old veteran of domestic abuse, and the NBA.
Also, Cardinal’s an expiring contract. So the financial reasoning isn’t even there.
Would it be possible to get Jordan Hill from NY for Rubio?
How about Rubio and Cardinal for Hill and Hughes?
Hill is a great chip that we can use to get a center (Amare?) or we play him at the 5 ourselves. Hughes plugs our hole at the 2 and he is an expiring contract so we are not locked in long term.
I’d go for that Knicks trade the Day after never.
Hughes has lost any explosion he may have previously had. When you can’t shot this tends to be bad.
Amare’s even less than a 5 than Al Jefferson if you take defense into the equation. Al at least can block shots and rebound. gueguessing i