In case you were wondering whether the Minnesota Timberwolves had given up on Ricky Rubio, BallinEurope is here to tell you it ain’t so. A group of Minnesota Timberwolves front-office types, led by general manager David “Khaaaaaaaaaaaan” Kahn himself, arrived in Spain a couple of days ago and will reportedly be discussing matters with the FC Barcelona guard (plus presumably his powerful parents).
While it seems the Wolves’ intentions may be to get the wunderkind to sign for the 2011-12 season now, a few sticking points remain. There is, of course, that $1 million fee attached to Rubio’s contract and “his family [doesn’t] want it to appear as if he already has a foot out the door to the NBA before his team’s season concludes.”
On the other hand is a huge asterisk made possible by labor issues on which the incipient NBA strike is based. Explains Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “A provision in the NBA’s soon-to-expire labor agreement with players allows him to sign under the current rookie scale by May 31 rather than gamble on what a new Collective Bargaining Agreement might look like for rookies, whenever they might be hammered out.”
As a no. 5 overall pick, this is truly a multimillion dollar decision for “La Pistola.”
On Wednesday night, Kahn and co. witnessed Barcelona clinch first place in the ACB with an 84-76 win over Meridiano Alicante; in 22 minutes, Rubio managed just four points on 0-for-3 overall shooting from the floor.
