Timberwolves reacquire Ricky Rubio in 3-team trade

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

The Minnesota Timberwolves are welcoming back a point guard from their recent past in their effort to climb up the Western Conference.

Former Timberwolves lottery pick, Ricky Rubio, who played for the team between 2011 and 2017, has returned to the team through a trade involving Minnesota, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the New York Knicks. The trade saw Rubio and the Draft rights to Jaden McDaniels (the No. 28 pick in the 2020 Draft) move from the Thunder to the Timberwolves. The Knicks also transferred the Draft rights to Leandro Bolmaro (the No. 23 pick in 2020) to the Timberwolves.

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 has traded forward James Johnson, the Draft rights to Aleksej Pokusevski (No. 17 pick in the 2020 Draft), and a 2024 second-round pick to the Thunder. Minnesota has also traded the Draft rights to Mathias Lessort (No. 50 pick in the 2017 Draft) and Detroit’s 2023 second-round pick to the Knicks. Meanwhile, the Thunder has traded the Draft rights to Immanuel Quickley (No. 25 pick in the 2020 Draft) to New York. This move, which had been reported following the 2020 Draft, was 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.