Ricky Rubio Does Not ‘Trust the P-Rosas’

By Eric Strack |

Updated: Mar 1, 2021

When the Minnesota Timberwolves traded for Ricky Rubio during the November 2020 NBA Draft, everyone celebrated. The prodigal son was returning.

Then, the season started and reality dropped on this franchise like an anvil in a cheap 1990’s Saturday morning cartoon.

Now, we are 35 games deep and you couldn’t have dreamed up a bigger disaster. Karl-Anthony Towns was hurt for a good chunk of the early games and then D’Angelo Russell went down right before KAT returned. DLo has now been a Wolf for over one year but he and his best-KAT-friend have only played five games together.

Better with Karl but not good enough

No matter the excuses, the Wolves 7-28 record sits last in the NBA. Poor play led to the poorly-timed firing of Ryan Saunders, which has rubbed many the wrong way. Throw in a bunch of legal trouble for Malik Beasley, who is now suspended for 12 games, and you really couldn’t make up a worse start to this season.

The Wolves have been better since Karl-Anthony Towns returned to the lineup but it hasn’t led to wins. The losses have, in fact, gotten worse since Chris Finch took over but that shouldn’t be a surprise (more on that shortly).

But fans are done with the excuses… and they aren’t the only ones. Ricky Rubio had a few licks of the success popsicle when he left town for a few years and he didn’t return so he could lose another heap of games in a Wolves uniform.

Just ask him…

Ricky Rubio, thank you for the brutal honesty. #Timberwolves #RaisedByWolves pic.twitter.com/krdm5acWZy
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) March 1, 2021

I can’t blame Rubio for how he feels and I appreciate his honesty. There isn’t a Minnesota Timberwolves fan out there, who’s been around since the KG era, that still follows this team like they did 15 years ago. You can’t. There isn’t a hole dark enough to handle that depression.

Trust the P-Rosas?

If Ricky is this concerned about the culture Gersson Rosas is building… then I am concerned too. I really think these comments are damning and I’m not sure how the Minnesota Timberwolves front office will take them.

But when the dust settles on 2021, Rosas isn’t going anywhere. And because of that, even if he wasn’t trying to, I think Ricky Rubio asked to be traded last night.

I’m not saying Rubio is wrong. But if Rosas believes in the culture he is building, which I hope he does, then how can he keep someone like Rubio around? He pretty much just threw Rosas’ entire “process” under the bus.

Others on the team have noted the upbeat nature that most are keeping even through all the turmoil. Even the most critical fans/experts understand the heartbreak KAT has dealt with this offseason and the aftershock that seems obvious from afar.

That’s before you even get into the shit-storm a blind Chris Finch was walking into when he was hired in unprecedented fashion just last week…

Rosas is going to get one more season after 2021, no matter how sideways things get. We’ll know a lot more about where things are heading this time next year. It just doesn’t sound like Rubio is willing to wait that long.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan