A recent NBA trade rumor predicting Minnesota Timberwolves starting point guard Ricky Rubio as one of four notable players who could be traded this season said that a deal with the Houston Rockets makes sense right now. Do the Rockets have the assets to complete the deal?
The Cheat Sheet's Ryan Davis listed down four "big-name players who could be moving" before the 2016 trade deadline arrives and they are the Grizzlies' Zach Randolph, Bulls' Derrick Rose, Celtics' Isaiah Thomas, and Rubio.
Rubio, who was 18 when he was drafted fifth overall by the Wolves in the 2009 NBA Draft, had been in trade rumors since June this year and the Rockets allegedly was one of the teams who was interested in dealing for the 25-year-old Spanish playmaker, as per Fansided.
The premise of the Wolves' shopping Rubio is to snatch hometown kid Tyus Jones with Houston's 18th pick in last June's draft. However, what transpired was Cleveland drafted Jones at no. 24 and Minnesota got him anyway in exchange for a 2019 second-round pick and this year's 31st and 36th picks, which ended up as Cedi Osman and Rakeem Christmas respectively.
Meanwhile, the Rockets moved on and acquired All-Star caliber point guard Ty Lawson in July to solve their ball-handling woes and appease James Harden, who had reportedly been requesting for someone to orchestrate the offense while he concentrates in scoring the basketball.
The Wolves-Rockets Rubio rumors died down and it was revived again just recently.
The problem with this prediction is that Rubio is currently in top form for Minnesota and Houston has no one to offer the Wolves as of the moment.
Lawson cannot be traded until next summer. Other guards Patrick Beverley, Corey Brewer, Jason Terry, and Kevin McDaniels are all restricted until January and beyond that there is nothing else that the Wolves would interest.
Add to that the fact that Rubio has been sensational lately, averaging 13.0 points, 4.3 assists, and 9.0 assists per game in the team's first six games of the season and this trade projection is obviously not going to work out.
If Houston wants Rubio enough then they could find a third team to make the deal happen. But is there anyone willing?