The Intangibles and the Rubios, Pt Two: T-wolves Export Will Deliver This Season

Ricky Rubio will play this '09-'10 season. Opinion? Yes. Fact? No.

But is this opinion based on facts? Yes.

Primarily that's what the article is about, but first, If your a Timberwolves fan, and do not know the story of Ricky Rubio yet, allow me to fill you in.

Ricky Rubio

Over the past few months, I've studied the prospects of the NBA draft of 2009, and ran across a kid by the name of Ricky Rubio. Of course, this was in the month of May, and at this time, getting Rubio seemed impossible, and for all but 30 minutes of the NBA draft...It was.

Ricky Rubio is how I put it...Sensational. Ricky Rubio is a 18-year-old point guard that has been playing professional basketball since the age of 14. Some will check that previous sentence to see if it's a spelling error, but it's true, and it's not an error.

SLAM magazine featured Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings on the cover, two 18 year old point guards out of Europe. SLAM magazine said it themselves.

"Basically, we here at SLAM are making the case for why we, SLAM Magazine, guardians of all that is good and pure and right in the basketball universe, are for the first time ever putting an 18-year old kid from Europe on our cover...This is because we believe Ricky Rubio is THE TRUTH."

Please consider:

1. Ricky debuted with DKV Joventut as a 14-year-old. The youngest of Spain's National Basketball League.
2. He had Triple Doubles and Quadruple doubles in European's Under-16 Championship tournament.
3. In the Olympics, where Rubio replaced Jose Calderon at the point, Rubio went for 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals—with a broken shooting hand...He was 17.

What more do I need to say? David Kahn has described Ricky Rubio's passing ability as an orchestrator.

The NBA holds a lottery for the bottom 14 teams that did not make the playoff's the previous year. Minnesota had the fifth best chance of getting the No. 1 spot in the draft, and ideally, would get the fifth spot. But knowing the Timberwolves luck, of course they would slip to the No. 6 spot.

Along comes David Kahn, the Timberwolves new GM, who trades Randy Foye and Mike Miller for the No. 5 draft pick. It was rumored that the Timberwolves were trying to move up in the draft to the No. 2 spot in order to get Ricky Rubio.

However, they could not, and so it seemed Ricky Rubio was out of reach due to the projection of Rubio going two through four.

So naturally, when a player is projected to go two through four, with two of those teams needing point guards (Memphis and Sacramento), one would just be completely lost for hope. So when the Kings drafted Tyreke Evans with the fourth spot, I heard a Timberwolves howl rumble my ears.

Previous to the draft, Ricky Rubio always stated that wherever he goes "he wants to play the minutes." Ricky Rubio wants to start, and he wants to pass.

So they draft Ricky Rubio, and it now seems like they have their point guard of the future, there's just one little problem...Getting him here.

Now that we have some background knowledge, let's get into the actual article itself.

I am 95 percent sure that Ricky Rubio will be playing this year. And here's my reasons why:

1) DKV Jovenut and Money

To make a long story short, DKV is in debt. They were so in debt, that they sold the rights to Ricky Rubio to the spanish IRS. It's almost like having collateral when you take out a loan from a bank.

DKV needs money, and they need it now. In order to get into the NBA, Ricky Rubio must buyout his contract, which could go as high as 6 million dollars. However, it's now apparent that DKV is willing to negotiate a smaller price for the buyout due to the amount of debt.

Ricky Rubio because of his contract situation with the spanish IRS, attempted to sue DKV. DKV would not even negotiate a buyout until Ricky Rubio would withdraw the lawsuit. Ricky Rubio has withdrawn the lawsuit, and now a buyout can be discussed with DKV.

But even a $4 million buyout for a 18-year-old can stop any kid's dream of playing in the NBA, especially when he only makes around $90,000 a year. Luckily for Rubio, he has an endorsement deal with Gilette, along with Derek Jeter and Tiger Woods.

Not to mention the $500,000 that the Timberwolves can contribute.

2) David Kahn

David Kahn is the GM of the Timberwolves, and he is now in Spain talking to DKV about the buyout.

David Kahn has said from the beginning that "the minute Ricky Rubio walks through that door, he's the starting point guard." David Kahn is very high on Rubio, and has stated he will do anything within the rules, to get him in a Timberwolves jersey as soon as possible.

He has no intention on trading "something he does not fully know about." This means that Ricky Rubio could have an upside of a franchise player, or a downside as a bench warmer, but David Kahn is showing that there is no intention on trading Ricky Rubio.

3) The NBA

If I'm the commissioner of the NBA, I want a true star on every team. Why? More ticket sales. It has been known that the Timberwolves have had trouble giving away tickets after Kevin Garnett left. Getting Ricky Rubio would help benefit the Timberwolves by boosting ticket sales, ultimately giving more profit revenue to the league.

It's also a possibility that Ricky Rubio puts the NBA on the map in Spain, as Yao Ming did for China. There's so much hype surrounding him right now, and if you haven't noticed, but the Minnesota Timberwolves haven't been this much talked about since Kevin Garnett.

4) No Point Guards Other Than Flynn

Sebastian Telfair, the starting point guard has been traded to the Clippers. David Kahn says this has nothing to do with Ricky Rubio, but if he says that it couldn't influence Ricky Rubio even just "a little bit," you might as well fire him.

So Ricky Rubio will definitely have the starting point guard spot if he comes over. Bobby Brown is a point guard, but he will play strictly backup to a backup.

5) Future Endorsements

There's no guarentee that Ricky Rubio will get any endorsements, but that is incredibly unlikely.

He has huge marketability due to the fact that there's this huge hype around him. He's from Spain, so the NBA market could broaden even more out there because of his heritage. He's a teenager, and from what I hear from my fellow female Timberwolves fans, "he's good looking."

Eventually he will have to prove himself, but I think that once he get's in the NBA, there will be endorsements lining up for him instantly. I'm willing to put money on it that he has his own Vitamin Water by the end of his rookie season (a joke).

6) Team Chemistry

The Timberwolves are getting someone who can dump the ball to the likes of Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, and Ryan Gomes for easy baskets. Ricky Rubio is going to have a lot of talent to work with, and it's going to make his job a whole lot easier. It's also been told that the Wolves are all great friends, and Rubio is going to be no different.

Not to mention, that the Timberwolves drafted Henk Norel, a fellow DKV Joventut team member.

7) Flynn Could Be Traded?

This is very unlikely, but the Timberwolves are going to start Ricky Rubio if he comes over. This is bad news for Flynn, and I doubt that the Rookie Of The Month in the Summer League wants to be a backup to another rookie.

I doubt that these two could play together on the court for more than 10 minutes at a time.

Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio both have the same agent, Dan Fegan. Dan most likely will advise what's in the interest of both of his clients, and if they cannot play together, Flynn could be traded.

Jonny Flynn also was brilliant in the summer league, and It wouldn't surprise me if teams were interested in him. I just hope that Flynn and Rubio can play together, because I don't want one without the other.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Timberwolves NBA Champions in three years! (Laughing)