Ricky Rubio: Suns said his ‘name was off the table’ in trades this offseason
Nov 28, 2020, 9:39 AM
Phoenix Suns guard Ricky Rubio (11) walks off the court following their NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Ricky Rubio provided some clarity to a tweet he sent after reports came out that the Phoenix Suns had agreed to trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a package for Chris Paul.
“…what a business,” Rubio tweeted on Nov. 16, attaching an emoji to the end of it.
… what a business 🙃
— Ricky Rubio (@rickyrubio9) November 16, 2020
Rubio, who was traded from the Thunder to the Minnesota Timberwolves on draft night, added perspective to this reaction in an interview with The Athletic.
He told Jon Krawczynski that learned about the deal via Twitter, same as Kelly Oubre Jr., who was part of the same trade.
Adding to the shock was that the Suns had told him that his name was “off the table” in trade talks.
“It’s not the way you want to know, especially my agent was talking with the team and they said my name was off the table when all the rumors and all the stuff happened,” Rubio said. “You feel like everything that they have said to you all year and buying into a new project and a young team and they need you, blah, blah, blah. It seems like nothing’s true.”
Rubio said that he understood why the Suns wanted Paul, and called the point guard a Hall of Famer. He told Krawczynski that the deal itself didn’t cause ill will. But the way he discovered the news was less than ideal.
RELATED STORIES
The point guard played one season with the Suns after signing a three-year deal in the 2019 offseason. He averaged 13 points and was among league leaders in assists with 8.8 per game while providing stability and reliability at a point guard position that Phoenix had struggled to fill over the few years prior.
With Minnesota, Rubio will bring that consistency to the team where he started his NBA career. As a more mature player who is better off-ball than he was over his first six-year stint with the Timberwolves, Rubio expressed excitement to help the young team.
“It started to really make more sense for me to really connect the puzzle and get to Minnesota and help a young team with a lot of talent and already have done really good things,” he said. “I feel like I can fit in the puzzle.”
