With great power comes great potential for gossip fodder.
Or something like that.
Once the ping-pong balls popped up the Timberwolves' way, Minnesota became the focus of the NBA Draft world: Who will they take No. 1 overall, and how will they go about deliberating that franchise-altering decision? Speculation always runs rampant this time of year, but it's especially commonplace where scrutiny is so centrally focused.
So the reports and rumors are flying left and right like Ricky Rubio passes during a three-man-weave drill. About top prospects desiring another location. About the Wolves front office already making up its mind. And even about Rubio saying "hasta luego" to this entire Twin Cities rebuild.
That, Rubio says, is outright falsehood.
"At no time" has the point guard considered leaving, he told Spanish news agency EFE in Barcelona last week. Reports suggested Rubio's camp had asked for a trade, but the Spaniard says he's looking forward to his fifth NBA season and the prospects of playing with three top overall selections. (Minnesota already has two in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett.)
"Having the No. 1 pick in the draft is going to help us even more (to make) the playoffs next season," Rubio said.
But the Rubio discussion does raise an interesting point; with the top pick, a handful of current assets and two high second-round choices, Flip Saunders could concoct some sort of barter that includes first-round movement. The club's coach, president of basketball operations and part owner said last week he won't be sending Rubio anywhere and that he's unlikely to trade the top selection. Principal owner Glen Taylor has expressed openness to trading it if the right deal arises, but that's more of a general commentary on the Wolves' willingness to examine all conceivable options available.
In a world of contingencies, negotiations and 11th-hour business transactions, "never" isn't anywhere in the glossary.
"We're not going to trade the pick," Saunders said last week after Minnesota's inaugural NBA Draft Lottery triumph. "That's not going to happen; I'll tell you that. I shouldn't say not; you can always be swayed on certain things, but I feel that the guys that are on top of this draft are just too good and could be long-term players."
That outlook won’t prevent the Wolves from swapping a current player for another top-10 pick in a draft pool that runs at least six potential stars deep, according to Saunders' early evaluations. The 31st and 36th overall selections could be used to deal back into the first round, a course of action Saunders has said on the record he's considering.
But no matter what happens before or after, when the clock finally begins ticking June 25 at the Barclays Center, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is likely going to read "Karl-Anthony Towns" or "Jahlil Okafor" after "first pick" and "Minnesota Timberwolves." And already, the cynicism running through the Minneapolis-St. Paul sports waterfront has reached both possible superstar big men's names.
The cybersphere already is fraught with musings Okafor would rather the Wolves not draft him and that he'd rather go to the Lakers at No. 2. Towns, from New Jersey, grew up a die-hard Knicks fans and preferred them to win the lottery, the digital-soapbox critics surmise. But the truth is whichever player Minnesota chooses will have at least 4.8 million reasons to embrace the cold, the place big-name free agents tend to avoid and the 11-year playoff drought. Then he’ll get the chance, with Wiggins and the rest of a promising young core, to attempt to turn all that around.
There's plenty to like beyond the league's CBA-regulated rookie wages: the chance to learn under Kevin Garnett, catch passes from Rubio and become a franchise cornerstone.
Wiggins, who might've been playing in the Eastern Conference finals right now if not for a trade from Cleveland to the Wolves last summer, relished his opportunity in the spotlight -- even one that has icicles hanging from it during hoops season. Leading the league in minutes after Dec. 1, he grew in leaps, bounds and thunderous dunks over Rudy Gobert and earned Rookie of the Year honors at the summit.
"Our future is bright," Saunders said. "We're moving into our new (practice) facility this week and next week. We're redoing the arena here. So a lot of things are going in a positive way."
Follow Phil Ervin on Twitter
