The Minnesota Timberwolves finally bit that long-awaited bullet on Friday, sending point guard Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz in exchange for a future first-round pick. This move frees up the necessary cap space for Minnesota to add another top-end free agent or two.
Following the acquisition Jimmy Butler from the Chicago Bulls, it looks like Minnesota’s primary focus is now to team him up with Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry in the backcourt. Heck, Butler himself immediately started recruiting Lowry once he was traded to Minnesota (More on that here).
Now comes this report from Doug Smith of the Toronto Star indicating that “back-channel” chatter involving Lowry moving to the Twin Cities in free agency has started.
Despite his playoff struggles over the past two seasons, Lowry would be a remarkable upgrade over Rubio in Minnesota.
This past season saw the 31-year-old guard average 22.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists while shooting at a solid 46 percent from the field. He’s more of a scoring threat than Rubio and would work well with the likes of Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota.
It will definitely be interesting to see what comes of this.