You've probably been following the Ricky Rubio saga for most of the summer -- and especially so in recent days. With the news today that -- officially -- Rubio is staying in Spain for two more years, the assessment now turns to how damaging this is to the Wolves and what they do from here.
On one hand, Rubio is only 18 years old. The Wolves will avoid paying him for two largely developmental years, and assuming he does arrive in 2011 they will have -- theoretically -- a more seasoned player for roughly the same price they would have paid now under the rookie salary scale (and maybe even less given the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement as it pertains to rookies in 2011).
On the other hand, the Wolves lose the immediate impact and momentum of bringing a player like Rubio into the fold immediately. It feels like a letdown that he isn't coming. Also, his stock is based largely on potential -- in other words, unless he dominates in Spain for the next two years, his value in a trade will probably not be higher at any point in the next two years than it is right now.
So does David Kahn wait on Rubio and hope that he keeps developing as a nice piece to the 2011 (and beyond) puzzle for the Wolves? Does he deal his rights to another team, realizing that Rubio's value -- at least as an asset -- is high right now? Does he wait a year and try to deal the rights when Rubio is a year closer to arriving, risking a regression or injury?
Are any of these options palatable, or are you of the mind that Kahn simply swung and missed on this one?
