Failed Rubio-Rose trade suggests Wolves and Knicks just didn't want to deal
The NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday was largely defined by the deals that weren’t made. Whether due to an unwillingness to include certain pieces around the margins, the vagaries of long-term decisions, or a seeming lack of interest in making a trade to begin with, some moves just don’t come to fruition. Even more, like the reported deal between the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves to swap Derrick Rose for Ricky Rubio, seem to involve all of the above.
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What started as a rumor earlier this week turned into a full-fledged story before Thursday’s deadline. The fundamental basis of the deal was always clear — the Wolves wanted to deal Rubio to allow rookie Kris Dunn to become their full-time point guard, and the Knicks wanted to turn Rose’s $21 million expiring contract into a legitimate starter who could potentially resolve some of their talent-rich offense’s structural and personnel defects. The trade would also let Rose adjust to his future as a bench scorer while returning to the shouty embrace of his former coach Tom Thibodeau, where the former MVP could potentially grow into a long-term role.
Simple enough, right? Well, no, because discussions became more complicated pretty much immediately. Marc Berman of the New York Post explains where it went wrong:
According to NBA sources, some members of the Timberwolves organization were against dealing for Rose because his playing style could hurt the growth of young studs Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.
But more so, Thibodeau, the Timberwolves coach and president, feared it would be too difficult to re-sign the point guard because of his potential max contract demands and it did not want him as a rental despite their playoff push. Thibodeau wanted to shed Rubio’s contract, but apparently not enough even with the club on a 10-8 run.
“I love our team, I love the way we’re working,’’ Thibodeau said after the deadline at Thursday’s practice.
The Knicks wanted Rubio, but as an injury risk, demanded the Timberwolves include another asset – a draft pick or 6-10 scorer Nemanja Bjelica. The Serbian is a favorite of Knicks European scout Kevin Wilson and has averaged 5.8 points in 55 games.
The Knicks reportedly came off their extra demand in the final hour, but it became too late in the game for a straight Rubio-for-Rose swap.
This report checks out. Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press reported that the Knicks were interested in Bjelica, a player the Wolves apparently did not want to trade. ESPN’s Ian Begley says that the Knicks were willing to take it as a 1-for-1 deal late in the game, too, but negotiations had soured and it came too late. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, it was the Wolves who balked at that trade, presumably because they didn’t know what to expect from Rose as a free agent this summer.
However, each of these supposed roadblocks seem so minor that it’s unclear if either side even wanted to make a deal. Assessing each suggests none should be a sticking point. It makes sense that the Knicks would want another asset for sacrificing their looming cap space on the two years and $28 million left on Rubio’s contract, but neither a second-round draft pick nor Bjelica would appear so valuable as to require it. Similarly, the Wolves’ supposed desire to hold on to the second-year Serb makes little sense — he has yet to average 18 minutes per game and does not offer quality shooting or defensive versatility at a position that now demands at least one of the two.
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And why wouldn’t either team want to make the deal once it became a point-for-point swap? Both front offices had presumably assessed that move when discussing possibilities, to the point where a supposed lack of time shouldn’t have stopped them from finishing it up. It’s one thing if the course of negotiations got the Wolves to sour on the idea of taking Rose with no guarantee past this spring, but that was always a fact of the proposed trade. If making Dunn the starter was the overarching goal of the trade, then it should have been enough to move Rubio for a player who would be a sixth man in an ideal scenario. Those long-term goals should outweigh anything else for a team in the Wolves’ position, even if the West’s No. 8 spot is within sight.
In such situations, the best conclusion is the simplest one. And it’s probably that neither team especially wanted to make the trade.
There absolutely were talks with the Knicks. Did it ever get close? I don't believe it did.
— Jon Krawczynski (@APkrawczynski) February 23, 2017
It’s important to remember that consistent updates on trade negotiations do not always indicate that a trade is any closer to completion. Front offices may opt to leak negotiations to give fans a sense that they’re working, or even just to nurture a relationship for the future. Sometimes a call is just a matter of due diligence, not a sign that anything is serious, let alone imminent.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
