The Minnesota Timberwolves stay hot in the streets! After acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls, they have now acquired Jeff Teague. And not only that, but they have finally traded Ricky Rubio, whom they have been shopping for what seems like forever. Jeff Teague was acquired through free agency, while Ricky Rubio is on his way to Utah to link up with the Jazz. What can the Timberwolves and Jazz expect from their new acquisitions?
Jazz find replacement for potential hole
The Utah Jazz might look to let point guard George Hill go after trading for Ricky Rubio.
If the Jazz was prepared to do this, it would include losing their second highest scorer from last season. But it does come with a great reward. Rubio only averaged 5.8 points less than Hill but averaged 4.9 more assists in the process.
There is a give and take here obviously, but a lot depends on what they decide to do with George Hill. If they let George Hill test free agency because Rubio is his replacement, and Gordon Hayward takes his talent elsewhere, they've lost a large majority of their offense. An offense that the Jazz can't exactly afford to let go. Rubio did average 11.1 points per game, but he is certainly known as a pass first guy.
So the Jazz, which I am sure are heavily pursuing to have Hayward return, need to do whatever it takes to achieve that.
Perhaps this Rubio move is in order to change the team roster up, in an effort to convince Hayward the team is better off. Rubio is considerably younger than Hill and has been extremely underrated on the Timberwolves.
Return on investment
The Timberwolves will be receiving a future first-round pick in exchange for Ricky Rubio; which is a decent asset, but I don't understand why Rubio was so disliked in Minnesota.
Although they have been talking about trading him since what seemed like the minute he arrived, the Timberwolves are clearly in a "go for broke" mindset.
With Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler, and now Jeff Teague, the Timberwolves are brewing something real nice. But going back to Rubio's impact, the second highest average in assists last season was Zach LaVine at 3.00; who was not only traded, but he was also 6.1 assists behind Rubio!
Now, Jeff Teague did average 7.8 assists and 15.3 points per game, so perhaps he truly is an upgraded replacement.
Bottom line
It is unfortunate that something didn't click for Rubio out in Minnesota because I think he would have had a nice future there with this new team they're building. As a pass first guy, on a team with many shoot first players, I saw him averaging 15 assists per game and really thriving. But it clearly wasn't meant to be, and we'll see how Jeff Teague now fits into the roster.
The Jazz has picked up a good, young player in Rubio; and maybe he can get Dante Exum a thing or two about performing in the NBA.
