5 winners and losers from the Ricky Rubio trade to the Utah Jazz

Ricky Rubio is finally on the move out of the Timberwolves lineup, and there are plenty of winners and losers to take a look at from this big deal.

Ricky Rubio has long been a name in trade discussions for seemingly forever when it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and this offseason the team finally pulled the trigger on a big deal.

After rumors went around of a possible trade to the Utah Jazz on Friday, the Timberwolves Public Relations Twitter account confirmed the details of the trade and attached a statement from head coach and team president Tom Thibodeau to show their gratitude for Rubio and everything he’s done for the team.

In the deal, the Timberwolves get a first-round draft pick originally from the Oklahoma City Thunder in next year’s NBA Draft in exchange for Rubio.

Rubio had been with the Timberwolves since 2009, so the deal to the Jazz will come as a bit of a culture shock for the point guard, just weeks after the team acquired a big star in Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls to add to their young lineup.

There are a lot of factors and parties to think about in this Rubio deal, and many of them come outside of the basic two teams that obviously were the two sides of the deal. With free agency in full swing and teams like the Timberwolves looking to attract big names to their roster, plenty of other people are affected by a deal of this nature.

To help depress those who lost in the deal even more and make those who won feel even better about themselves, here are five winners and losers from the Rubio deal to the Jazz.

Winner: Minnesota Timberwolves

For starters, even as I say the winners of this deal can span outside of the two teams involved, an obvious winner in this Rubio deal is the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As a basic first point, Rubio has been a part of trade rumors for years at this point, and the team hasn’t exactly needed him in the lineup for the last few seasons with his current performance. He’s not a dominant scorer, and while he’s a solid passer, he doesn’t bring too much to the game as far as a true offensive threat.

The Rubio deal allows the Timberwolves the opportunity to reset at the point guard position at a time when the market couldn’t be better stocked with options, and the current circumstances couldn’t be more appealing for a free agent looking at moving to Minnesota.

The talent pool as far as point guards is concerned is pretty strong, even after Chris Paul left the market and officially landed in Houston with the Rockets in a trade earlier this week. With Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose all out there as potential additions to the lineup, and all of them tied to the Timberwolves in free agency news at one point or another, it looks good on the Timberwolves to rid themselves of Rubio at this time.

Meanwhile, the team also gets a first-round pick in next year’s draft at a time when its roster is already loaded with Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. The ability to go out and sign a point guard to join that lineup while having some picks stored up for the future bodes well for the Timberwolves, easily making this deal worth it.