Would Los Angeles Lakers trade Julius Randle for Ricky Rubio?

Apr 11, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) signals a three at the end of the half against the Houston Rockets at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio (9) signals a three at the end of the half against the Houston Rockets at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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The future of Ricky Rubio seems to be up in the air at the moment as the Minnesota Timberwolves aren’t so sure they want to give the max contract they earmarked for him back when they took it away from Kevin Love.

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That’s a move that looks even more stupid now then it did at the time and things have changed a lot since then. Rubio has fallen off a bit, Love is the best power forward in basketball and the max deal the Spanish star wants doesn’t totally feel warranted.

According to NBA scribe Chuck Myron, should the Wolves try to trade Ricky Rubio — which is possible given his contract status with the team heading into this season — the Lakers will hang up if Julius Randle is brought up.

"The Lakers would hang up on that offer, I think. Randle has lots of promise, and there’s no reason to sell on him so early, especially when Ricky is in line for a significant raise."

Randle is clearly the player with the higher upside at the moment and that’s just something that the Wolves have to be aware of. This also isn’t a deal that seems like it’s being actively pursued which means that while the Wolves might want to get their hands on Randle, they likely aren’t the only team.

What should be taken away from this is even though this is just a hypothetical, the chances that we start to hear more and more about a Ricky Rubio trade in the future are pretty high.

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