NBA Trade Rumors: Rockets trying to acquire Ricky Rubio?
By Josh Hill
The Houston Rockets are hungry for revenge after a Western Conference Finals exit, and that could entail loading up a dream team that includes Ricky Rubio.
After an ugly exit from the postseason this year, the Houston Rockets are out for blood following two trips to the postseason that ended poorly. That could change next year, as they improved over what they did in 2013-14, but they still didn’t make it to the NBA Finals.
On the heels of that loss to the Warriors, the Rockets are looking at everyone from Kevin Love to LaMarcus Aldridge and a few other players who aren’t set to be free agents. One of those targets by Houston is Ricky Rubio.
According to Timberwolves beat writer Darren Wolfson, the Rockets have shown a strong interest in acquiring Ricky Rubio but a trade might not end up happening.
Hear Houston is having lots of discussions, including moving up. Yes, they've talked to the #Twolves. They like Rubio. Hard to see a match.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) June 25, 2015
The idea behind trading Rubio would be to acquire the No. 18 overall pick and then take hometown hero Tyus Jones. The Duke product is set to be a mid-first round selection and if the Wolves can grab another first-round pick and then wait two young players with Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, that could be insane for their future.
Jones joining a backcourt with Wiggins and a frontcourt that has Kevin Garnett, Shabazz Muhammad and Karl-Anthony Towns could be dangerous.
Of course, this is assuming that Rubio would be a fit for the Rockets — which his hard to argue. The Wolves trading Rubio is a risky prospect, especially given their suspect history with finding franchise guards. They have one in Rubio, and trading him could be something that sets them back.
All of this is speculation though, as the Wolves probably aren’t going to trade Rubio and this might all be much ado about nothing.