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.

Loser: Ricky Rubio

For the depressing side of the trade, we turn to the man in the middle of the spotlight, himself: Ricky Rubio.

Some may view Rubio heading to Utah as a good thing for his career, as it allows him to go start in a spot where he’ll have the opportunity to shine, whereas he may get overshadowed by a potential free agency signing if he stayed in Minnesota for the next year. However, looking at the current roster the Timberwolves are building up, you can’t help but feel bad for the guy.

You just went from a team that has plenty of loaded, young talent in their lineup, and finally has a chance to contend in the Western Conference after years of coming up short, to a team that won’t be going very far in the next few years.

Add in the fact that you’ve been with this team for your entire NBA career and haven’t seen the playoffs once in that entire eight-year stretch, and it makes it a little more upsetting. The team will definitely have a chance to make a run next year, if not be a serious threat, and you’ll likely be on the outside looking in on what could’ve been.

As a positive for Rubio, his new team actually made some noise in the postseason a few months ago, as the Jazz knocked off the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round before falling to the Golden State Warriors in the second round. To stomp that hope back into the ground, their star player, Gordon Hayward, likely won’t be returning to the Jazz next season, and the talent level may not be there for a return to the playoffs.

Unfortunately for Rubio, he’s a loser in a deal centered around him, and that can’t feel good.

Winner: Free agent point guards

This is a pretty broad pool to be calling winners from this deal, and most, if not all of them won’t be making an appearance in a Timberwolves uniform any time soon. However, with the Timberwolves opening up a spot in their lineup for a point guard along with a ton of cap space to throw around, dollar signs may be popping up in some guards’ brains.

Like I said earlier, Kyle Lowry, Jeff Teague and Derrick Rose are all names in the conversation for the Timberwolves to pursue, and seeing them commit to adding a new name this offseason is surely a good sign for these guys. While some will think of the financial situation and how much money they could get in Minnesota, the talent side of things is also going to be a huge factor.

The Timberwolves’ roster may not match up with the talent level of some of the league’s best, but the team is arguably the most built for the future out of any team in the league not named the Philadelphia 76ers. They have a mix of young guns along with a veteran like Jimmy Butler, and joining a roster like that if you’re a talented point guard should lead to some serious success.

While the Timberwolves don’t have the best postseason resume to boast to the free agents out there, as they haven’t been in the playoffs since 2004, that also may be a strong persuasion factor in a pitch to these free agents. You can help bring Minnesota back to the postseason, with a talented roster behind you and the money in your contract to help the cause, and you’re entering a real win-win situation by joining the Timberwolves.

Loser: Utah Jazz

After already making Rubio feel bad for leaving his situation with the Timberwolves to join the Jazz, it only makes sense to add in the Jazz themselves as a loser in this deal.

The Jazz are in a sort of panic mode at the moment, with free agency opening up just a few hours after this deal was confirmed and not a whole lot going their way at the moment. They are currently all-in on trying to get Gordon Hayward to return to their lineup after a year that he helped lead the Jazz to the postseason and a first-round win over the Clippers.

While they put all their resources on working to get Hayward back in Utah, all while fending off the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat in the Hayward sweepstakes, they’re not exactly putting their names in the hat for any other big additions. The Rubio deal helps to add some talent to their roster to help persuade Hayward to come back, but it isn’t a huge addition that would be truly earth-shattering.

Meanwhile, if they were to lose Hayward, the Rubio deal doesn’t help them in the sense of replacing one talent with another. As mentioned earlier, Rubio isn’t a true offensive threat and won’t match the talent that Hayward would give them in a return to the team.

If they lose out on Hayward and only get Rubio out of the pursuit, they’re likely looking at a drop out of postseason contention, as well as a lost first-round draft pick in the draft.

Winner: Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler falls into the list of winners in a different way than being directly impacted by Rubio’s presence or lack thereof.

Butler has reportedly been trying to court Kyle Lowry to join the Timberwolves lineup in free agency, and this Rubio deal definitely helps the case when you’re trying to get your super friends to join your squad.

Think of it like Batman trying to add the Flash to the Justice League, but he already had a lackluster speedster in his group. Now, a spot has opened up, and you can say how great of a place Minnesota is to land with, potentially gaining an upgraded point guard in the process.

With reports of Jeff Teague already committing to the Timberwolves, Butler may not gain his friend Lowry in this process. However, this deal further justifies him joining the team, as it shows the Timberwolves’ commitment to improving their roster and giving Butler and his teammates the best chance at winning and potentially making a run at the postseason.

At the same time, you’ll get a better scoring threat than Rubio to join you on the court in your starting five, and if Butler struggles, he now knows he’ll have other reliable teammates to share the ball with and count on, rather than hoping Rubio can make plays with his passing abilities.

Next: NBA Free Agency 2017 tracker: Latest rumors, trades and deals

There are plenty of winners and losers in the Rubio deal to the Jazz, and while it may look like a one-sided deal, it actually isn’t all bad for the Jazz in the end. They gain a former first-round pick in exchange for a future first-rounder. However, Butler and those around him in the Timberwolves organization are definitely happy with where things ended up on their end.