Earlier today, it was reported that the Wolves may deal Ricky Rubio with Sacramento lurking as a possible destination. Minnesota drafted Kris Dunn with the No. 5 overall pick and he looked the part of a starting caliber point guard during his time in Vegas this summer. With Tyus Jones also in the fold, the team could afford to swap out a point guard for a player at another position.
Adding Rudy Gay may be a possibility in a trade with the Kings. Sacramento lost Rajon Rondo in free agency and Darren Collison, the team’s current starting point guard, faces domestic violence charges and will likely be suspended for some portion of the 2016/17 season. Even if Collison avoids missing games, Rubio would serve as an upgrade in the starting lineup.
For Minnesota, bringing aboard Gay would give them a solid veteran whom could play a key role in transforming the team into a playoff contender. However, for a team that plans to give heavy minutes to Zach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins, outside shooting should be more of a priority. Gay has only made 34.4% of his career 3-point attempts and while that’s not horrible, his presence on the floor wouldn’t negate the lack of shooting by the team’s other wings.
That brings us to tonight’s question: Would netting Rudy Gay in a Ricky Rubio trade be considered a win for Minnesota or could they make a better deal? Let us know your opinions in the comments below. We look forward to what you have to say!
No way does MN make that deal. Sac can’t give Gay away and he doesn’t fit Thibs defense first mentality. Rubio is a perfect fit in a 3 G rotation with Lavine and Dunn
Only way this happens is if a third team gets involved. Gay could be used as a small ball 4, but he doesn’t shoot well enough to really stretch the defense. Plus, his poor defense doesn’t really fit what we need.
I still like something with the Sixers. I’m thinking Rubio and Payne for Noel and Landry. I really think the Sixers need a PG
Rubio would be welcomed in Phila, but do the Wolves really need Noel?
I think it’d work. Definitely would improve defense.
Noel is a defensive beast who rebounds well and doesn’t necessarily need the ball. He is an intangible guy. Think of the valuable role Tristan Thompson and steven Adams play on their teams. Noel would be a great fit next to towns. He would be a big upgrade over pekovic and dieng. He is also much younger than both and has more upside. The two roles the wolves need to upgrade in in order to take the team to become playoff caliber are shooters and that big guy defensive, rebounding, intangible role like Noel and Adams provide.
Hell no!!!
Kings should be all over getting Ricky, but, as mentioned above, the Kings don’t have a lot of assets to work with. It will take more than a simple Ricky-for-Rudy swap for this deal to happen. Plus, I find the playing styles of Wiggins and Rudy Gay to be too redundant.
Cauley-Stein, Mclemore for Rubio and Payne? Mclemore provides shooting from the wing and cauley-stein brings a young defensive stud who can rebound to mold next to towns. Rubio becomes the Kings starting PG and Payne adds depth at the two big spots and an asset.
Great question.
I think it’s a fair deal. Rubio isn’t a great fit next to the super athletes who also can’t shoot.
Yes Gay creates some minutes issues but I say Run with Dunn, let him develop the needed chemistry with KAT and Wigs and weave Rudy into a 28 minutes/game 6th man role.
It’s smart for Sacto too, get a new offensive philosophy around Rubio’s high character and ball distribution skills.
Rubio in Sacramento would be huge. I’m a big fan of Rondo, but I’d say Rubio would be an upgrade over last season’s backcourt.
Yeah, no way. It would be an absolute fleecing.
I wouldn’t bring Gay in.
The writer needs to do some more research. Implying that Lavine is a poor shooter? He shot 39% from 3 last year. Better than Durant, Beal and Lillard, Draymonds, Lowery.
While I agree that citing LaVine as a poor shooter when he shot 39% is bad, citing the other players as comparables hurts your argument when you dig into their stats further.
LaVine shot 38.9% from 3 last year while averaging 3.9 3PA per game.
Kevin Durant shot 38.6% from 3 last year while averaging 6.7 3PA per game.
Bradley Beal shot 38.7% while averaging 4.9 shots.
Damian Lillard shot 37.5% (the lowest of the players you mentioned) while averaging 8.1 shots (the highest of the players).
Kyle Lowry shot 38.8% while averaging 7.1 shots.
Draymond Green (who is not considered to be a significant outside threat) shot 38.8% while averaging 3.2 shots.
When you consider the rather miniscule difference in % for each player (outside of Lillard) and the amount of shots they took, it almost makes LaVine look like a worse shooter. Draymond shot .1% worse on .7 less shots. Lowry shot .1% worse but took 3.2 more shots. Beal shot .2% worse but took 1.0 more shots. Durant shot .3% less but took 2.8 more shots. Lillard shot the worst (of this group) but also took the most shots. The point is, yes these players all (technically) shot worse than LaVine but when you consider the amount of shots they took, it makes sense as to why their numbers might not be as high. Andrew Bogut, Coty Clarke, and Johnny O’Bryant all shot 100% from 3 but that doesn’t mean they are better shooters than LaVine.
Rudy Gay for Tyus Jones and Nikola Peckovic, more likely.
TWolves signed Jordan Hill and Cole Aldrich when they already have Towns, Deng, Peckovic and Bejilica, Adreian Payne, and Garnett could opt in?
If anybody, they are moving Peckovic.
I’ll bet they’re offering Tyus Jones to the Sixers and Kings if they take Peckovic’s K. While both the Sixers and Kings want Rubio.
Matter of fact, if the Kings can get Tyus Jones and Shabazz Muhammad for Gay, they need to jump on it!!!!
*As an aside, I find it interesting that the Kings passed on Wade Baldwin IV. I’m not a fan. But the casual analytics guys loved him.
Of course the kings would jump on it. Muhammad has so much scoring potential and jones is going to have a very solid career before it is all said and done as well because he is just so fundamentally sound. However, no way does the wolves do it. They need a wing shooter and Muhammad is the best wing shooter they have. Gay is nowhere the outside shooter muhhamad is. Not even close. The wolves aren’t going to subtract from an area they are thin in so that they can bring someone in like gay who doesn’t n eccessarily fit tibs system or what they need.
No way do the wolves make this deal unless we get more than gay in return. Rubio is a top pg and in a team friendly contract for 3 more years and Gay doesn’t offer the shooting the team needs.
I think a lot of people here are over-valuing Rubio. After the back-to-the basket traditional C, the other prototype that is dying in today’s NBA is a pure-distributor PG like Ricky.
What’s the value of a PG that is top 5 in assists, top 5 in steals, and top 1 in defensive +/-? Even if he cant shoot It’s more than the value of a guy the Kings have been trying to give away and can’t
Rubio for Gay would be an absolutely stupid and terrible trade for the Wolves. 1) Rubio is a much more valuable player than Gay;
2) Gay is a FA after this year, while Rubio is still signed for three more years at a team-friendly rate, which would mean the Wolves would be trading Rubio (a high quality starting NBA PG) just to rent Gay for a year.
#00 for rubio even up
Here is another reason not to get Gay. The reason for getting him would be to get them into the playoffs. How many playoff games does Gay have. 1 season with Memphis. Otherwise he has not proven to be that guy to get a team over the hump.
Gay/Koufos/WCS for Rubio/Pekovic/A. Payne
I would rather have Noel
Prior to the summer league, I woulda considered Rubio as the best fit at starting PG to start the season.. As a veteran floor general, he could bring some serious mentorship to Kris on handling the ball, passing, etc…
Now Tyus has proved he could grow out to be one hell of a bench option, to allow Dunn to move up to the starting 5. Provided that’s the plan, Rubio could be traded for a valuable bench piece (or several) and hopefully fill the veteran gap on the roster. It’s risky, considering Dunn’s injury and the loss of a tremendous player, but it’s happening eventually. Rubio wants to compete for a ring and probably will set his mind on that, rather than put 2 extra seasons into our already slow rebuilding project. Is Rubio getting traded or not ? Can’t say, but he probably won’t stick around past 2018…
This decision will depend on Rubio and the Wolves, and how they see the best future for both of them.
Rubio has not proven he can shoot the ball consistently well, also he will struggle guarding in the Western Conference, a Rudy Gay trade does not benefit either team for this Season, or in the near future. Darren Collison has proven himself as a starter in the league, it’s unfortunate he spent a season in Dallas, To play for a coach that doesn’t have the patience for young players. That’s why Dallas will not win big!!! If Collison doesn’t get hurt in his 1st year in Sacramento, And let’s not forget Sacramento gave the job to Rondo not because he outplayed Collison for the job!!!
So, I’m not necessarily a Rubio fan, but you do realize he’s been in the Western Conference, right? He’s definitely an above average defender as well. Takes a lot of risks in passing lanes but he turns enough of those into steals. Collison can shoot and that’s it for his desirable traits – there is a reason he’s been on 5 teams in 6 seasons.
Rubio has not proven he can shoot the ball consistently well, also he will struggle guarding in the Western Conference, a Rudy Gay trade does not benefit either team for this Season, or in the near future. Darren Collison has proven himself as a starter in the league, it’s unfortunate he spent a season in Dallas, To play for a coach that doesn’t have the patience for young players. That’s why Dallas will not win big!!! If Collison doesn’t get hurt in his 1st year in Sacramento, And let’s not forget Sacramento gave the job to Rondo not because he outplayed Collison for the job!!!
Ya, Rubio will struggle to defend in the west… even tho he had the best defensive plus minus of all (that’s every single one) the point guards in the league. Great logic.
Struggle to defend in the Western Conference??? Last I checked the T Wolves play in the Western Conference!!!
The Timberwolves still need Ricky. Kris Dunn didn’t perform well as PG in summer league. Dunn was best when Tyus was running the show because he is still turnover prone. I believe Thibs when he says Ricky & Dunn can play together. Besides, we don’t need a scoring guard with LaVine/Wiggins/KAT. And Gay is 30 & wouldn’t be part of the future. I’d rather just resign Prince for another year and keep Ricky.
They could make a better deal. I honestly don’t think Rubio will be on the team at the end of the season. Some other teams are also interested in Rubio but mainly Sacramento. If the trade happens get anyone better Rudy gay.
They should trade Rubio they still have Dunn
and if nothing else they have jones to fall back on