Timberwolves reacquire Ricky Rubio in 3-team trade

Before a game last season, Ricky Rubio had a conversation with his former teammates, Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgi Dieng.

In their pursuit to ascend in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back a point guard from their recent history.

Former Timberwolves lottery pick, Ricky Rubio, who was part of the team from 2011-17, has rejoined them through a trade transaction involving the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the New York Knicks. Rubio, along with the draft rights to Jaden McDaniels (the No. 28 pick in the 2020 Draft), are moving from the Thunder to the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves also acquired the draft rights to Leandro Bolmaro (the No. 23 pick in 2020) from the Knicks as part of the deal.

In the trade, the @Timberwolves send James Johnson, the draft rights to Aleksej Pokuševski and a 2024 Second Round Pick to the Thunder and the draft rights to Mathias Lessort and Detroit’s 2023 Second Round Pick to the Knicks

— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) November 20, 2020

Minnesota is trading forward James Johnson, the 2020 Draft No. 17 pick Aleksej Pokusevski, and a 2024 second-round pick to the Thunder. They’re also trading the 2017 Draft No. 50 pick Mathias Lessort and Detroit’s 2023 second-round pick to the Knicks. In turn, the Thunder is trading the 2020 Draft No. 25 pick Immanuel Quickley to New York. This transaction was reported after the 2020 Draft and officially confirmed on Friday afternoon.

Rubio was added by the Thunder from the Phoenix Suns in the Chris Paul trade earlier this week. The 30-year-old guard was drafted by the Timberwolves in 2009 and played the first six seasons of his career with the franchise.

During the 2019-20 season with Phoenix, Rubio averaged 13.0 points, 8.8 assists, and 1.4 steals.

In his six seasons with the Wolves, Rubio averaged 10.3 points, 8.5 assists 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 353 games. One of the team’s more popular players, he was dealt to the Utah Jazz before the 2017-18 season and spent two seasons there. After that, he signed with the Phoenix Suns last season and was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in this offseason’s blockbuster Chris Paul trade.