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The Sacramento Kings everlasting pursuit of a point guard still continues, and Minnesota Timberwolves starter Ricky Rubio is right in their crosshairs.
Although the T-Wolves franchise made its intentions clear by drafting Kris Dunn with the fifth overall pick in this year's NBA Draft, they won't be trigger-happy when it comes to making a deal to set the young guard with a starting gig.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau is reluctant to move the Spanish international until he's seen enough progress from Dunn convincing him that he's ready to run the offense and take over the team.
Rubio has been a consummate professional in the situation, welcoming the idea when it comes to the Wolves' future plans, even mentoring Dunn during practices — after all the 25-year-old Rubio has been a professional player since the ripe age of 16 in his homeland Spain.
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Dunn has plenty of upside if he adapts to the speed of the NBA game. Plus the team will lose virtually nothing at the defensive end, since that is where the Providence product makes his money. The 6-foot-4 point guard is a hawk on the passing lanes and a lock-in perimeter defender with a more NBA-ready body than Rubio. He stands to be a better shooter than Rubio has been throughout his career and a more complete player overall.
Despite all this, according to league sources Thibodeau doesn’t anticipate Dunn becoming the starter until approximately 20 games into the regular season.
The rookie has struggled with his shooting this preseason, but has been kept in a short leash when it comes to minutes, failing to play over 30 minutes in every game.
Rubio is owed $43 million during the next three years and it's unknown if the Kings have a package that will entice Thibodeau to pull the trigger on the deal, given the abundant talent the roster boasts at the moment.
