According to a recent report, the Minnesota Timberwolves were very much open to a reunion with Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio, who himself will enter free agency within the next couple of days.
Wolves insider Darren Wolfson reports that Minnesota were heavily invested on bringing back Rubio for next season, but that they decided to call off their pursuit upon learning that the 6-foot-4 guard had other plans.
While D'Angelo Russell is clear-cut Plan A for the #Twolves at PG, Plan B was said to be Ricky Rubio. Wolves were preparing one heck of a recruiting video for him, for one. But they were led to believe early in the process that he was off to somewhere else. Sounds like Indiana.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) June 30, 2019
The Wolves drafted Rubio fifth overall back in 2009, ahead of Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. He would spend the first six seasons of his career in Minnesota prior to being traded to the Jazz in 2017 in exchange for a first round pick.
As it turns out, Rubio made such an impression with the Wolves front office that they now want him back. Well, it seems that the 28-year-old might be holding a bit of a grudge on his former team, and is no longer open to a potential return.
At the moment, the Indiana Pacers are reportedly the frontrunners to sign Rubio once he officially hits free agency. With Darren Collison recently announcing his retirement, it appears that the Pacers will now be going all-in on Rubio.
It is worth noting, however, that as stated by Wolfson above, D'Angelo Russell still remains to be Minnesota's number one target. Russell himself is being linked to a number of other teams at the moment, so it could very well be the case that the T'Wolves end up striking out on both Russell and Rubio this offseason.
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