Minnesota Timberwolves rumors: Wolves were distracted by Kevin Love
After over a year of speculation, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally dealt away star power forward Kevin Love. Love was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers while the Timberwolves received Cavaliers’ swingman Andrew Wiggins and forward Anthony Bennett and Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young. The 76ers hauled in a first round pick, forward Luc Rich Mbah a Moute and point guard Alexy Shved.
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As Timberwolves’ point guard Ricky Rubio points out, Love became a bit of a distraction because his future was constantly in question.
“The last couple years there have been a lot of questions,” Rubio told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. “It is hard – even if the team is good – the media always talks about it. You don’t want to think about it, but everyone is always talking about your main guy this way. And it becomes harder to be focused.
“Right now, we have to play with the players we have.”
The team will likely turn to Rubio, who is in the process of discussing a contract extension, to be a leader.
Rubio averaged 9.5 points, 8.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 38.1% from the floor, 33.1% from beyond the arc and 80.2% from the free throw line last season. In his career, he’s put up 10.1 points, 8.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 36.8% from the floor, 32.3% from three and 80.1% from the charity stripe.
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