Ricky Rubio: Latest News, Rumors, Speculation Surrounding Timberwolves PG

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t made the playoffs since the 2003-04 season, and point guard Ricky Rubio is tired of losing.

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Rubio Wants to Play for Winning Team

Monday, June 6

Rubio appeared on Catalunya Radio in Spain and hinted the 2016-17 campaign could be his final with Minnesota if things don’t change (via ESPN.com):

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When I arrived to Minnesota, my hope was to break the seven years' streak without [a] presence in [the] playoffs. I still have that hope, but it's very tough mentally when year after year that goal is not met.

Next season will be crucial for me. I've been in the NBA for five years, and six years without playoffs would be a long time. At 26, I'd have to start thinking about teams that can get to the playoffs and win in the Finals.

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Playing for a team that could win the NBA Finals should be the goal for every professional player. However, ESPN.com noted Rubio signed a four-year contract extension that began in 2015, which limits his leverage, especially since Michael Rand of the Star Tribune clarified that “we’re not talking about a multiyear All-Star chasing a ring after years of carrying a bad team.”

Rubio is only 25 years old and would figure to be a primary piece of Minnesota’s efforts to develop into a contender as the starting point guard and a former No. 5 overall pick (2009).

Rand called the “sentiment” and “timing” of Rubio’s comments “odd on a few levels” and pointed out the lack of leverage for someone who is set to be Minnesota's highest-paid player in 2016-17 with a $13.4 million salary.

Minnesota is widely seen as one of the rapidly improving teams in the league, and it just bolstered its win total from 16 in 2014-15 to 29 in 2015-16. Most of its primary contributors are younger than 25 years old, and proven head coach Tom Thibodeau will bring his hard-nosed style of defense to the roster next season.

Rand highlighted the new coach and improvement in the record and suggested a failure to make the playoffs as soon as next season “shouldn’t diminish progress, assuming it is made.”

If Rubio wants to make the playoffs next season, he should look to improve his shooting numbers. While he is an impressive passer (8.6 assists per game in 2015-16) and defender (two-plus steals per contest in four of his five seasons), he shot only 37.4 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from three-point range in 2015-16.

At least those were both improvements from his dismal 35.6 and 25.5 percentages, respectively, in 2014-15.

Rubio should also take solace in the fact Thibodeau made the playoffs in all five of his years as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2010 to 2015. The 2010-11 Coach of the Year will put his track record of success to the test with plenty of young talent on Minnesota's roster.

Outside of Rubio, the Timberwolves have the 20-year-old Karl-Anthony Towns, 21-year-old Andrew Wiggins and 21-year-old Zach LaVine.

Towns was the Rookie of the Year and averaged a double-double in his first season in the NBA with 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Wiggins is a high-volume scorer (20.7 points per game in 2015-16) and lengthy perimeter defender, and LaVine brings more than spectacular dunks to the table with 14.0 points per game behind 38.9 percent shooting from downtown last season.

The surrounding talent also meshes with the pass-first point guard, since Wiggins and LaVine are both wing scorers and Towns is a big man who is seemingly destined for greatness. The Timberwolves may not make the playoffs in the daunting Western Conference in 2016-17, but they are trending in the right direction and likely will soon enough.

Rubio just needs to be patient as his young team develops.