NBA minnesota Timberwolves

While most NBA draft picks are preparing for summer league play in Orlando and Las Vegas next week, rumors continue to swirl that Ricky Rubio may wait a year -- and perhaps even longer -- until he makes the jump to the NBA.

According to El Periodico, a Spanish newspaper, Rubio has already ruled out playing this coming season, and in fact plans to drop the lawsuit he filed against DKV Joventut, his current Spanish team, regarding his buyout clause, which he previously argued was too much money for what Joventut has been paying him.

Before fans in Minnesota get too upset, they should consider the source: El Periodico's report neither cites a source nor includes a byline -- this could be nothing more than re-hashed speculation that we've been hearing all week.

He may not be willing to lace up his sneakers for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Spanish point guard prodigy Ricky Rubio won't hesistate to become an American pitchman. Via Canis Hoopus, the young Mr. Rubio appears in what would appear to be his first stateside ad campaign, joining the likes of Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods and Roger Federer in a spot for Gillette.

The Minnesota Timberwolves used the fourth pick in the NBA Draft to take Ricky Rubio, but now there are serious doubts about whether the Spanish sensation wants to play there. Rubio was non-committal immediately after being selected, saying he was excited to come to the NBA, when answering a question that asked if he was excited to go to Minnesota.

A little later on draft night, Rubio's father was quoted by a Spanish news site as saying that he would probably "remain one or two years in Europe." With it becoming increasingly clear that Rubio has no interest in playing in Minnesota, the Knicks said that they would make the call to the Timberwolves to see about bringing him to New York.

The NBA Draft started with a no-brainer -- Blake Griffin going No. 1 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers. Then, the fun happened, with Memphis taking Hasheem Thabeet and the Timberwolves' vexing decision to horde as many point guards as they could. A few other teams lucked out when players dropped down the board and into their laps. Check out the grades for the Western Conference after the jump.

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According to the Spanish news Web site Marca.com, the father of new Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio may remain in Spain for a few more years rather than play in the NBA. According to Esteve Rubio, "Ahora mismo, es muy probable que Ricky se quede uno o dos años en Europa." Translated, it says, "Right now, it is probably that Ricky will remain one or two years in Europe."

"Tenemos que hablar con la gente de Minnesota ... y ver lo que pasa, porque, a estas horas, podemos estar en Minnesota o en otra parte", declaraba." Translated: "We are going to speak with the [staff] of Minnesota and see what's happening, because, in some hours, we may be in Minnesota or in another place."

Rubio has been rumored to be traded to the Knicks and the Timberwolves have a glut of point guards with Rubio, Jonny Flynn and Sebastian Telfair, so some change could be in store.

When the Kings opted for Tyreke Evans with the fourth pick, Ricky Rubio fell to the Timberwolves at No. 5. Considering it wasn't that long ago that Rubio was talked about as a potential No. 1 pick, you can't blame Minnesota for taking a player who should be their point guard of the future.

Except, just five minutes later, the Timberwolves took Jonny Flynn out of Syracuse, giving them the two best point guards of the draft. Are they going to hold on to both players? It's theoretically possible, but a more likely scenario is that we'll see one of them involved in another trade, possibly announced sometime tonight.

Update: Make it three: with the 18th overall pick, the Timberwolves selected Ty Lawson, although ESPN's Ric Bucher just reported that he's headed to Denver for a future first-rounder the Nuggets picked up from the Bobcats. Bucher was presumably referring to the conditional pick the Nuggets received in the Alexis Ajinca trade last year, which is top-12 protected in 2010, top-10 protected in 2011, top-8 in 2012, top-3 in 2013 and unprotected in 2014.

FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.

It's almost unfair to judge a draft after one year, but this is what we're going to do. The final edition of our Revisiting the Draft series examines the 2008 Draft and believe or not, there are teams already harboring regrets from their picks.

Despite the extensive scouting, workouts and interviews involved in the draft, teams still make major mistakes and these days, prospects don't get three years to develop. Of the 14 lottery picks in 2006, six have already changed teams and players such as Patrick O'Bryant and Mouhamed Sene are not guaranteed jobs next season.

The NBA waits for no one, especially if they are taking too long to make an impact. So while teams won't freely admit they made mistakes 12 months after draft night, they will privately admit they overestimated talent and heart, and sooner or later, that will cost front-office jobs.

Now with four first-round picks to worry about -- and a unique chance to restart the franchise -- new Minnesota Timberwolves boss David Kahn doesn't have enough hours in the day to focus on his first coaching hire.

We'll do it for him.

Despite an earlier report that television analyst Mark Jackson was his top choice, Kahn should be smart enough to know he can do better than that.

Why settle for someone with no coaching experience when there are seasoned guys -- including three who have coached in the NBA Finals -- who will give Kahn a much better chance of succeeding.

With Tuesday's talent dump netting the No. 5 pick for Minnesota, the initial theory followed that said pick combined with the Wolves' own No. 6 could net the team Memphis' for-sale No. 2 pick, a selection coveted by several teams. Minnesota quickly blew back that idea, saying it would not be giving up both top-six picks in any such deal.

But the quest for No. 2 -- and the Ricky Rubio or Hasheem Thabeet it entails -- isn't over yet.

One of the more bizarre on-court storylines of 2008-09 was the "death" of Mike Miller.

Long one of the NBA's great shooters, Miller's single season in Minnesota reeked of miscast talent. The great Britt Robson of Secrets of the City called Miller's Timberwolf season "one of the most perverse, distasteful wastes of player's tailor-made role on a ballclub" he's ever witnessed. It is incredibly difficult to disagree.

What happened to Miller last season, when he averaged single digits (9.9 points per game) for the only time in his career? And can it be reversed in Washington? Let's find out.