[2quick4uParticipant]

 so it seems that after a very long road, ricky rubio is finally exploding…

in the month of march he’s averaged: 17.8 ppg/10.4 ast/4.5 rb/1.6 st/1.3 3pm/FG 47.2%/FT 92.9%  

not bad.. now minnesota has a problem and they’ll have to make an important decisions this summer to follow one direction or another.

do they keep him or they trade him? can they trust dunn as their future PG? and if they keep rubio, what happens with lavine? to many questions to be solved.

 it’s no coincidence that rubio’s explosion has come during lavine’s absence and it’s clear they can’t play together as lavine demands too much ball and rubio’s unique ability to make others around better becomes useless.. not only that, but also wiggins and towns seem to play more confortable without lavine as they get more touches and they find easier their rhythm..so if they decided to keep rubio, they would have to think about trading lavine..

in the other hand, if they decide to trade rubio, they better get something very good in return because if rubio can keep this type of production, he’ll become a top PG in the league.. remember it also took a while for nash and stockton to develope into great PG’s..acctually it took 5 and 4 years respectively and remember rubio is still only 26..

you have to remember that since rubio arrived to the league in 2011, he hasn’t been able to have consistency because of very severes injuries first and because of his mother and grand mother’s diseases and deaths later..

now all the pressure is gone, all those injuries are gone, and his mother will never be gone but rubio has finally accepted life as it comes and knows his mother will always be in his heart.. and now ricky rubio is hungry, he’s very hungry..and minnesota loves ricky and ricky loves minnesota so it would very tough to trade him now that he’s ready to fly and specially if it happens at a cheap price like it almost happened with NY..(fortunately phil jackson sucks..).

so what do you think minnesota should do with the trio rubio-dunn-lavine?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

I’ve been a defender of Rubio all year and I think they should keep him. If I were them I’d keep him and trade Lavine; either try to get a stretch 4 that can play with KAT so Dieng and Bjelica can come off the bench, or see if you can put something together for a guy like Jimmy Butler. That’d probably at least take Lavine, Dunn, and a pick or 2 (maybe another guy like Shabazz) but they want to make the playoffs and they’d be a lot better a lot faster with him

[bdmoteParticipant]

 Lavine is a 2 is he not? so that would have nothing to do with rubio 

[SubZeroParticipant]

Yes but that overlooks how fit factors in. You can’t just throw together 5 guys as long as they’re different positions. No Lavine means more touches for Wiggins and Towns while having a guy in Rubio to find them. No Rubio means less touches to go around for Wiggins and Towns (although Lavine is a really good scorer)

[Numbers_CruncherParticipant]

When he comes back I think he’ll have no problem accepting a role off the bench. We need to sign a for real 3 and move Wiggins to the 2. Signing PJ Tucker should be a top priority. Getting a starting PF is also a top priority. LaVine and Dieng play off each other very well, so having them as your first off the bench would be excellent. Dunn plays great defense, but unless he learns how to dribble and run an offense he’s not in the conversation to take over for Rubio. He actually plays better as a wing in a Tony Allen like roll. If LaVine plays great next season and looks like he’ll get a max offer than we might need to trade him. 

[SubZeroParticipant]

I think that would work if Lavine would be fine with the 6th man role. I’ve always said that Wiggins should be a 2 as well, they just don’t have anyone to guard all the great 3s in the league

[jaycee24Participant]

 Not sure how a trade would work in this scenario $ wise but would KCP for Lavine be a fair deal? That’d be a weak shooting team but Pope is a top 10 wing defender with Dieng Towns and Wiggins that’s a pretty incredible defensive lineup. Minn prolly would want a little more but I think both sides would think about it.

[bdmoteParticipant]

 I can see Rose going there this offseason just because of Thibodeau, dont know how it would work though.

[festar35Participant]

I still feel Timberwolves could benefit from a 2-guard who can play some perimeter D. Lavine is talented but I just don’t see the fit in Minny as they seem to play better with out him.
I look to trade Lavine for some Veterans that can help this team understand the winning culture and also contribute to the team.
As for the perimeter D, I look at putting Dunn at the 2-guard spot and telling him to look at the like of Amery Bradley as to what they want from him. He needs to work on that 3-ball no doubt.

[mowestenParticipant]

 I think the original poster makes a lot of good points … The T Wolves biggest problem right now is their bench is trash. For example, Portland played three guys off the bench and scored 38, while Minn played five off the bench and got 16 points. To be fair, Portland played their guys more minutes, but that has been an on going theme for Minn all year. They need better players there and the coach needs to play the bench more minutes IMO.

They need to either sign a rim-protecting big and move Towns to the 4, or a stretch 4 and move Towns to the 5 and bring Dieng in off the bench to spell both.

LaVine really needs to improve at the defensive end and playing without the ball. If I were the T Wolves I would keep him for now and see if he and Rubio can play together. If it looks like it’s not working out, maybe they can move him once healthy.

[markfitz14Participant]

What about playing Rubio and Dunn together? Dunn could play that lock down defender role. He wouldn’t really command the ball as much as Lavine. Kinda similar to IT and Bradley. Dunn could play like Bradley, where Bradley prides himself on locking guys down and knocking down timely shots. And IT controls the team and tempo and stuff. Dunn has been showing he can play nice D. Dunn could just focus on D for right now.  

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

The hard part is this: Wiggins,Towns and Lavine all demand the ball+ball stop..This has been shown with Lavine out..For Rubio to succeed you need a Player like a Khris Middleton(possibly) or a player than can come off screens like a taller version of J.J reddick/ray allen/Rip hamilton etc and doesn’t ball stop..

Personally I would do the following:

Not bring back Shabazz-the guy really stops the ball on the bench…Maybe trade Cole A,Tyus and Jordan hill also..

Re-establish lavines trade value then trade him for a legit need or have him play nice bench role ala Jamal Crawford..As that defense of his is shakey at best and he stunts wiggins growth(look how much better he has been with no Lavine)..

Dunn I would groom him to take over Rubios spot in two years I personally see him as a john wall light as their play style is sort of similar(watch how their speed changes when he runs the offense vs Rubio): The defense is there,there seems to be chemistry with Kat,He has some good offensive games and his Jumper does seem better than Rubios at the same point in time of their careers. I see Dunn taking the butler path works hard and eventually shows everyone…

Dieng I would prefer him off the bench also he seems like a good piece just not a full time starter..

I don’t mind Bjelica when he is engaged as he can space the floor and play some reasonable defense…

I would also try reup Brandon Rush at a reasonable price as he has been a solid vet for them..

Draft the best available forward(depending on draft spot) out of Josh Jackson,Jayson taytum,Jonothan Issac,The 7ftr from Arizona or T.J leaf(if they ended up with a late 1st)…

Then in free agency you try at least sign on of these players  Danilo G(could be that floor spacing PF they need),Ibaka(if he is willing to play PF full time and maybe the odd mins at C) and Otto P(but he is most likely going no where..  

 

 

 

 

 

[BiggysmallsParticipant]

 Why do people keep thinking Kris Dunn should be the team’s "PG of the future"…he’s been horrendous offensively all season. That may ultimately happen but if people think it should happen, they crazy. 

If Rubio can play like this – or 90 percent of this – then he’s got a place as a starting PG in this league. His defense is up there among the best ones and he does all the intangible things that made him a decent player before he could shoot even at a replacement level. If he can knock down shots, he’s starting material on a good team. 

I’d still love to get my hands on one of those PGs in the 2017 draft to potentially back up Rubio. That would be a lot different than what they have Dunn doing now because Dunn is 23 and his potential clock is ticking. Where if you bring in a 19-year old, that kid could be allowed to grow for a few years behind Rubio and when the contracts are up, you pick one. 

I’ll agree that Lavine should be a 6th man type guy. I think the type of wing they need is that PJ Tucker/Jared Dudley type guy who will play defense, move the ball and knock down a 3 once in a while. 

Don’t think they need a shooting PF. Would much rather have a rough and tumble big man like a Biyombo who can bang inside. Every time the Wolves run up against a big physical center, they get obliterated. It’s not like Dieng spaces the floor and their offense is fine. The defense has been a disaster though. 

 

 

 

 

[mowestenParticipant]

 I agree with every word of this. I think Minn needs to ride out Rubio and see if he can continue this level of play next year. If so, he’s only 26. Maybe he’s the PG of the future.

Moving Lavine and Dieng to the bench would shore that up, which has been a disaster in my opinion. Tibs plays his starters too many minutes, but the bench has to push those guys for PT too and they’ve not really done that. I’m not sure how the Minn bench would stack up with the rest of the league, but I would think it’s near the bottom.

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

Firstly I have nothing against rubio I was hoping that jumper of his would have worked out by now as they guy had Steve Nash/Pete Marvich Hype coming into the NBA wish would have been great to see him reach..But it now its time to face facts about him..

 Rubio let me put it this way for you: How many times have the T-wolves made it the playoffs with Rubio being the  starting pg?..The anwer is a grand total of  0 times.. If he had even had them in the first round even once then you could maybe argue he is their PG…This is without even mentioning the injury history, the age(which may not fully suit stars time line) and the lack of offensive game which has hurt the team in regards to spacing..The only thing he really has going for him is his team friendly deal expire  with Dunns RFA  happening I think.

 

 As for Dunn the reasons he is the future: He already plays solid defense,He Can play more the style which suits the stars-Fast up and down Basketball, his jumper looks less broken than Rubio’s and he suits your stars Timeline more(Dunn is 23 now vs Rubio who will be 27 in October and only 2 years older than stars)..Also see Butlers rise to why keeping Rubio as place holder makes sense: Luol held the fort until Butler was ready then  got traded when management thought he was ready to start…That is the path I could see Thibs taking with Dunn. Also Dunn vs Rookie like you want Dunn is more physicall ready,has now got a season under his belt and will be more able to handle the reigns vs a skinny pg who will have the same sort of time Dunn had this year if not worse as only maybe Fox/Maybe Ntilkina(french pg)? could maybe play the kind of defense that would keep him on the court if their offense is off. under THIBS.

Has rubio gotten Better no doubt he has compared to the start of the season but the thing is he will tease you with this kind of play then disapper back down to his 4-6 points while clogging the floor and about the same boards and his usual 7-10 dimes resulting in blown leads…Which has been the case for most of his career and why thibs needs to be prepared to move him to go in direction which will fit their future plans.

As for a stretch 4 like mentioned, Ibaka fits the mold if he can play respectable defense(he is also interchangeable with Towns), the reason you do this is so Towns can bang down low and get back to more of what he was like under Mitchel and less of this 3point/long 2’s stuff he has been doing so much-Even K.G has said this..

 

 

  

[The GoatParticipant]

 I’d be shopping Dunn and Lavine for draft picks so you get back talent that start on rookie deals.. teams will have multiple picks this draft and some will bite hard if you dangle the bait (they already bite pretty hard I guess, thats why they are in the lottery) 

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