The long anticipate trade involving Kevin Love leaving Minnesota for Cleveland has finally come to fruition. The teams are finally able to confirm what has long been speculated that Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young are headed to Minnesota. We know that, or at least conventional wisdom would say, that Young will opt out of his contract at season end and become a free agent. Young wants the security of a long term deal and he wants to get paid while he is at the top of his game. It is unlikely that Minnesota will be able or willing to compete for his services and it seems even more unlikely that Young resigns to stay in Minnesota.
So with Young out after this season that leaves Ricky Rubio as the undisputed face of the franchise a player. The question for all is Rubio ready to be the face of a franchise and can he actually be the leader that the Timberwolves are hoping for? I realize that the hopes for Wiggins are high and he may just be that next superstar, but he isn't a there yet and to push him into that role so early in his player development would be a disservice to the young man. So until Wiggins shows that he can shoulder that load, the team is Rubio's.
Now there is a bit of a contract issue involving Rubio too as he is in huge final year of his rookie contract. There has been some discussion between the Timberwolves and Rubio's agent on terms for a new deal but by all accounts Rubio's camp is trying to get a five-year max deal out of Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, while Taylor is countering with a deal in the neighbourhood of four years at around $10 million per. As one can see there is a significant salary gap here between the two sides. If Rubio doesn't sign a new deal by October he will play out his contract and become a restricted free agent come seasons end. The Timberwolves probably wouldn't mind seeing this as they get to match any contract offers and that is assuming that there even are some. See the cases of Eric Bledsoe and Greg Monroe when it comes to teams offering restricted free agents contracts knowing that their current teams are just going to match.
Based on Rubio's performances to late, there isn't a team in huge league that would entertain a max-zeal for him. The fact that he would be in the same wage bracket as the Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry is already a sign that he is being overcompensated, paying him any more than $12 million a year would be absolutely ludicrous. But there is the chance that Rubio becomes a restricted free agent, receives no offers from the rest of the league that his camp deems acceptable and they then turn around and sign the qualifying offer from the Timberwolves which would in essence signify his eventual departure from Minnesota. If this scenario even looks like one that would come to fruition you can bet that Glen Taylor would pull the trigger on a trade in order to get something back for Rubio.
Contract complexities aside the Wolves need Rubio in a large way this season. He must now step up and be the face of the the franchise a moving forward. Rubio must dictate the play on huge court both offensively and defensively. This will be a challenge given that defence is certainly not Rubio's forte and his assist to turnover ratio is bordering on the horrific. He must take care of the ball this season as each offensive possession must be cherished due to hitherto inexperience on the court. The young Wolves squad will make enough mistakes on their own, they can I'll afford for Rubio's freewheeling antics to detract any further from their success.
Here is the real problem for Rubio supporters. How good can Rubio be when he doesn't have an All-NBA, perennial MVP candidate and resident All-Star on the squad carrying the offence? Even with Love, Rubio has yet to be named to an all-star team or make any of the three all-NBA teams. In fact the only award or recognition on Rubio's resume thus far is an all-rookie team selection back in 2012. Now that Love is out in Minny, look for Rubio's scoring averages to drop as he forces more shots, which will lead to an even lower shooting percentage and finally we will see a decrease to his assist numbers. This is not going to be a stellar statistical season for Rubio which is not going to set him up well when it comes to extracting more money at contract time.
I do believe that the Timberwolves would like to keep Rubio; however, there is no way they've will commit anything more than $10 million a year for the privilege. Taking into account the deals for Curry, Toronto Raptors Kyle Lowry and the tabled contract offer for Phoenix's Eric Bledsoe there isn't a general manager in the League paying Rubio on a max or near max deal. If Minnesota can't convince Rubio of this fact then it might be high time to see what the trade market would bear for him. Minnesota can put their hopes on Wiggins for the future and if Wiggins shows that star potential early on, watch for the face of the franchise in Rubio to be dealt sooner than later.