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The Wolves have received phone calls from teams inquiring about the possibility of a deal for Rubio. At this time, Minnesota holds a variety of options after using the No. 5 overall pick on Thursday night. The Wolves can place Flynn at the point guard spot for the 2009-10 season while Rubio plays one or two more years for DKV Joventut.
“Let me start by saying this. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t pick up the phone and listen. But that goes for all our players. There’s no one special player. Al knows that and Kevin knows that. As much as I think I hope everyone would like to be here, I would say this: Shaquille O’Neal, who I think may be one of the five best centers of all time, just last season third team all-NBA, will be playing on his fifth team next year. That’s incredible when you think about it. May I add also traded, as the esteemed Bill Simmons would say, for a bag of donuts this week. My point is I think as much as I would like to portray for all of our guys we’re here forever, we all know, myself included, maybe we’re not. You have to answer the phone, you have to listen. But we’re in no mode right now to make any trade,” Kahn said.
A person with knowledge of the situation said Rubio - who worked out for only one team, the Kings - had been pushing for the Knicks and Mike D'Antoni's system all along. Rubio's camp has wanted New York or another big market mainly because his endorsement opportunities would be more lucrative and, therefore, would enable him to pay for a ridiculously expensive buyout with his Spanish team, DKV Joventut.
The source indicated, however, that the previously reported $6.6-million price tag is higher than the actual buyout. But it is still a hefty number to pay, especially because NBA teams by rule may pay only up to $500,000 to buy out an international contract. The rest would be left up to Rubio, who, as the fifth overall pick, will make $2.7 million in his first season as per the NBA's rookie scale. The source said Rubio more than likely would immediately report to a big-market team such as the Knicks.
The Wolves maintain Rubio's NBA rights as long as he's playing professionally elsewhere. "If there's a team out there that can wait, it's us," Kahn said. "If it means we have to wait a year, we wait a year. If we had to wait, God forbid, two years, he'd be 20 when he got here. ... The last thing we need to do is become overwrought today."
This is what happens when you let a former sportswriter and NBC executive run an NBA team. Chaos ensues. Kahn once wrote about the Trail Blazers and the league for a newspaper in Portland, which I suppose makes him as qualified as two other former sports scribes -- Ned Colletti of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Marty Hurney of the Carolina Panthers -- who have fared well as GMs. But Kahn has lost me. First he dumped franchise icon Kevin McHale as coach, even though the team's two young stars, Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, like playing for him. Then he traded the team's top scoring guard, Randy Foye, and veteran shooter Mike Miller to Washington for the No. 5 choice, which he used on Rubio when he had every intention of also taking Flynn. Huh?
From Darren "Doogie" Wolfson/Star Tribune:I do wonder if Kahn's master plan was to end up with Tyreke Evans and Flynn. The mistake made: Kahn should've taken Stephen Curry at No. 6. There was a trade there. I understand Kahn's thinking that Flynn is a better fit with Rubio. Fine. No matter what Kahn would say, you can't convince me that Golden State at No. 7 would've picked Flynn. If Curry went sixth, Jordan Hill would've gone seventh. Then New York at No. 8 could've chosen Flynn and a trade would've been worked out. Curry to NY for Flynn and small forward Wilson Chandler. It doesn't seem like Kahn maximized the value of the No. 6 pick.
What were they thinking…Minnesota Timberwolves newly appointed president David Kahn used the fifth and sixth picks to take Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, who both play point guard. What makes it even worse is that before selecting Rubio, Kahn must have forgot to place a call asking Ricky if he had any interest in playing in Minnesota.
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Regards :-D Landis.