Should David Kahn Be Shopping Ricky Rubio To Denver?

Photo Credit: Bryan Smith/ZUMA Press/Icon SMI

Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn made himself an infamous figure around the NBA last off-season when he drafted Jonny Flynn with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. It wasn’t so much that Flynn wasn’t a great player, though he still wasn’t deserving of a selection that high, but it was because Kahn had drafted another point guard right before him: Ricky Rubio.

As we all know, Rubio decided not to come and play for the T’Wolves. Whether it was because Flynn was drafted right after him or if it was just because Minnesota was too small of a market for him to play in, Ricky opted to stay in Spain rather than come overseas and play for the worst team in the Western Conference.

The fact that he has never actually suited up for Minnesota only makes it worse for Kahn but there might be a way for him to redeem himself. He’ll never be able to get last season back, but it was pretty much a lost one anyways, even if Rubio was there, but he can change the face of his team. Considering he traded his best player (Al Jefferson) this off-season to Utah for next to nothing and that Kevin Love was glued to the bench last season for no reason, changing the dynamic of his team seems like it’d be a good idea.

Kahn has been reluctant to so much as entertain offers for Ricky over the past year but another summer is about to end and there is little reason to believe that he’ll be here anytime soon and, though it doesn’t mean he won’t turn into a superstar in the NBA, he hasn’t looked great with the Spanish National Team this summer. Pair another season without him while still possessing the ability to trade him with Carmelo Anthony‘s desire to be traded and Kahn would be a fool not to offer something involving Rubio to Denver, at least in my mind.

Denver’s a larger city (14th in population compared to 48th for Minneapolis), the Nuggets are a better team, even without Melo, and the pace George Karl likes to play at seems perfect for Rubio’s style of play. Ricky likes to push things in transition which gives him the opportunity to trick defenders as he’s moving to swiftly for them to eliminate all of his options. His most valuable asset is his ability to make plays and the more possessions he has, the better chance he has to dominate on the dribble and distribute the ball around, especially with the athletes he’d have around him. And who knows, perhaps Rubio was really excited to play for Minnesota when he found out they drafted Ty Lawson, only to find out later that he was traded to the Nuggets.

The Nuggets have made it clear that they want to keep Carmelo, but he does have some leverage with his contract expiring at the end of this season,when he can leave Denver giving them nothing to show for in return. On the flip side, it’d be a bad move for Anthony not to sign an extension with Denver if he was after money because he won’t be able to receive close to the amount he can now with a new CBA in place or if there is a lockout.

In this scenario, lets say Melo and the Nuggets don’t have a very productive meeting and the team looks to deal him. Minnesota is already on their list of preferred trade partners (our friend Sam Amico reports that the T’Wolves, Kings and Nets are the three top dogs in the hunt) and, with Al Jefferson now in Utah, the best tradeable asset they have is Rubio (I consider Kevin Love way more valuable than Rubio and untouchable). Seeing that he fits in extremely well with the system in Denver and that new Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri likes what Minnesota can offer, this seems like it should be plausible.

Denver losing Melo would signal a rebuilding process. Trading him will mean the same but in this case it can give them a very good headstart in the right direction. There’s no telling what Rubio’s actual value is at this point but how does a Rubio, Wesley Johnson and one more forward (maybe Michael Beasley or Martell Webster) for Melo and a second round pick. Denver rebuilds, Minnesota gets a proven star. What’s not to like about this deal?

Here’s what the depth charts would look like for both teams.

Denver

PG: Chauncey Billups, Rubio, Ty Lawson, SG: Arron Afflalo, J.R. Smith, SF: Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster, PF: Al Harington, Kenyon Martin C: Nene, Chris Andersen

Minnesota

PG: Flynn, Luke Ridnour, SG: Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, SF: Carmelo Anthony, Lazar Hayward, PF: Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, C: Darko Milicic, Kosta Koufos

As you can see, the point guard situation in Denver would be even more clogged than Minnesota but with Melo gone, the Nuggets would likely shop Billups around as well. Say they can flip Chauncey for an average shooting guard or small forward or package him with J.R. Smith (who they are shopping at the moment) to get a pretty good one. That’s a very good team with athletic young talent and a core of Rubio, Johnson and Nene to build around. Minnesota gives up a player that may never play for them anyways, the fourth overall pick from this season and an extra forward. After a year or so of wheeling and dealing, Kahn would basically be giving up a rookie, Webster, Randy Foye and Mike Miller (he traded these two for the pick he used on Rubio) for Carmelo Anthony. Not bad.

Minnesota, on the other hand, would receive a dominant scorer that Kurt Rambis could use as a new/different version Kobe in his edition of the triangle offense. Al Jefferson was their goto man last season and that didn’t workout very well. With Melo, they know they’re going to get a top level scorer, and they can start building around he, Love, and Flynn. They won’t be a contender right away, but they would still have a ton of cap space to use in the off-seasons of 2011 and 2012.

In the end, this comes down to two things that aren’t set in stone. For one, we don’t know if Rubio will ever come and play in the NBA. I’m assuming a trade to Denver would get him excited about coming over but there is a good chance that I’m wrong and its possible that Ricky never comes over. Secondly, we don’t know if Denver is willing to trade Carmelo, and if they are, whether or not a package built around young, future stars is enough for them to trade away one of the game’s best scorers.

If Rubio is willing to come over and Denver wants to start over, though, I like this deal. I like it a lot, for both sides. So perhaps Kahn can make right of this Rubio situation after all.