I have to admit, it was fascinating to watch Ricky Rubio shift uncomfortably in his chair as team after team passed on him early in the NBA draft last night, as the most talked about player in the building clapped and pretended to be happy for the four other dudes who went ahead of him.
And then, it happened … the worst possible scenario for Ricky and his family.
David Kahn and the Timberwolves confusingly took both Rubio and Jonny Flynn (who’s even shorter) in back-to-back picks. Everyone assumed they would trade one of them — which obviously didn’t happen — before it dawned on us all: The Timberwolves drafted two point guards! Brilliant.
Rubio, judging by his reaction after the pick (and more tellingly, his father’s interview with Spanish newspaper Marca), may not be long for Minny. From True Hoop:
“Are you excited to go to Minnesota?” he was asked…”I’m excited,” he responded, “to come to the NBA.” He said his mother hated cold weather. He was asked about whether being picked by the T-Wolves might inspire him to stay in Europe. He said: “I don’t know yet. I have to think about that … I’m going to talk to my agent about that and we’re going to see.”
He also said he was very surprised that the team had drafted another point guard in Jonny Flynn. He evaded a question about whether or not he’d even come to the NBA — until the very end of the meeting with reporters when he threw in a line saying “I want to play basketball, and if they give me minutes, I’m going to come.”
It was reported that the Knicks and T-Wolves were possibly working a deal involving Rubio last night, but nothing materialized. Both Flynn and Rubio are expected in Minny sometime today; it’ll be interesting to see if both of them show up.
