Minnesota Timberwolves not betting on Ricky Rubio with max deal

The Minnesota Timberwolves failed to give Kevin Love a max extension when they had the chance to a few years ago because the regime at the time was earmarking it for Ricky Rubio.

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Flash forward to this summer and Love wants nothing further to do with the Wolves while Rubio isn’t worthy at the moment of a max contact. That’s something that Flip Saunders is going to try and change but the lack of a max offer is telling about how the Wolves feel about Rubio right now.

According to NBA scribe Chuck Myron, the Timberwolves could see a marked improvement with Ricky Rubio over the course of this next season thanks to Flip Saunders, but the team might not have complete faith in that happening as a max contract still hasn’t been offered or considered by the Wolves.

"It’s worth noting that the last point guard Saunders coached, John Wall, overcame some severe outside shooting deficiencies to become proficient from behind the arc this year. Of course, that improvement happened after Saunders left, but it indicates that Rubio may eventually turn out to be significantly better than he is now. But if Saunders were willing to bet on that happening with a max extension, they’d probably already have agreed to terms on that by now."

This may or may not indicate a lack of faith in Rubio at this moment, but as Myron pointed out, the last guard Saunders coached up turned into an All-Star leader and with the loss of Kevin Love, that’s exactly what the Wolves need to pick themselves up right now.

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