Timberwolves reacquire Ricky Rubio in 3-team trade

Six players and two future Draft picks are involved in the trade between Minnesota, Oklahoma City and New York.

From NBA media reports

November 20, 2020 9:40 PM

Ricky Rubio talks with former teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgi Dieng before a game last season.

In their quest to rise up the Western Conference, the Minnesota Timberwolves are welcoming back to a point guard from their recent past.

Ricky Rubio, a former Timberwolves lottery pick who played for the team from 2011-17, is back on the team via a trade involving Minnesota, the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks. In the trade, Rubio and the Draft rights to Jaden McDaniels (No. 28 pick in 2020 Draft) head to the Timberwolves from the Thunder. The Draft rights to Leandro Bolmaro (No. 23 pick in 2020) also head over from the Knicks.

In the trade, the @Timberwolves send James Johnson, the draft rights to Aleksej Pokuševski and a 2024 Second Round Pick to the Thunder and the draft rights to Mathias Lessort and Detroit’s 2023 Second Round Pick to the Knicks

— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) November 20, 2020

Minnesota will send forward James Johnson, the Draft rights to Aleksej Pokusevski (No. 17 pick, 2020 Draft) and a 2024 second-round pick to the Thunder. Minnesota sends the Draft rights to Mathias Lessort (No. 50 pick, 2017 Draft) and Detroit’s 2023 second-round pick to the Knicks while the Thunder send the Draft rights to Immanuel Quickley (No. 25 pick, 2020 Draft) to New York. The move had been reported in the wake of the 2020 Draft, but became official on Friday afternoon.

Rubio was added by the Thunder from the Phoenix Suns in the Chris Paul trade earlier this week. The 30-year-old guard was drafted by the Timberwolves in 2009 and played the first six seasons of his career with the franchise.

Rubio averaged 13.0 points, 8.8 assists and 1.4 steals during the 2019-20 season with Phoenix.

In his six seasons with the Wolves, Rubio averaged 10.3 points, 8.5 assists 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 353 games. One of the team’s more popular players, he was dealt to the Utah Jazz before the 2017-18 season and spent two seasons there. After that, he signed with the Phoenix Suns last season and was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in this offseason’s blockbuster Chris Paul trade.