Flip Saunders, now the new coach of the Washington Wizards, didn't want to be critical of the Timberwolves' recent moves. But the former Wolves coach said he believed his current team is better off having Mike Miller and Randy Foye than it would have been keeping the No. 5 draft pick and potentially taking young Spanish star Ricky Rubio.

On June 24, the day before the NBA draft, the Wolves sent guards Miller and Foye to the Wizards in exchange for Washington's first-round pick, No. 5 overall, as well as three other players. With that pick, the Wolves took Rubio.

I'm sure that one of the reasons Kevin McHale and David Kahn couldn't come to an agreement to have McHale remain as coach is because I'm sure that McHale, a 16-year employee of the team under Glen Taylor, believes that with a healthy Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer returning, plus a year of experience for Kevin Love and three first-round draft choices, the team, though still very young, would be much more competitive than it has been the past two years.

I agree with McHale rather than Kahn, who spent that No. 5 pick on Rubio, even though the 18-year-old might not play for the next two years. Foye right now figures to be better than either Rubio or Jonny Flynn, the Wolves' No. 6 overall pick out of Syracuse.

On Thursday, El Periodico de Catalunya in Spain reported Rubio has ruled out playing in the NBA this year.

He added that he is talking to his advisers and trying to get rid of the two-year contract he signed with Barcelona. He has to pay $6.6 million to get out of the deal, and the Wolves are only permitted to provide $500,000 of that.

In judging the skills of Miller and Foye, Saunders shared the opinion of Randy Wittman -- fired as Wolves coach and replaced by McHale last season and now a Saunders assistant.

"I thought Foye improved a lot over the course of the season; he averaged 17 per game," Saunders said. "And everybody gets down on Miller as far as he didn't shoot the ball as well as he had in the past. But he shot 48 percent from the field and 37 percent from the three. And for most guys, that would be a hell of a shooting percentage. I like his ability to defend, and rebound. He's the leading rebounding two-guard in the league. I like a lot of the other things he did, too."

About Rubio, Saunders said: "Rubio is going to be a good player. He's young, he's only 18, so it's going to take him a few years to play at a high level. But he's a young player who has great forward vision, great offensive skills.

"At this point, he's going to have to improve his shooting and he's going to have to learn how to defend. Those are things that most young players all have to learn. But he's a good, solid player, there's no question."

Comparing Rubio to two players who began their Wolves careers as teenagers, Saunders said: "He's not going to come in to do what Kevin Garnett did or Stephon Marbury did. He's not ready to do that yet."

The Wizards had a number of players miss most of last season, including one of the best players in the league in Gilbert Arenas, who has played only 15 games the past two seasons because of injuries.

"With our team getting back healthy, we're a team that's built to win right now for the playoffs," Saunders said. "Based on that, we're better off having guys like Foye and Miller who can help us win games right now. We've got two guys that are starters, for a high draft pick and three players that didn't figure into a lot of things they did last year."

Looks for right coach Asked about Kahn's coaching search, Saunders said: "He's all over the board. He's made an indication that he liked what Chicago did [last season], where they had a young coach with some veteran assistant coaches. Now whether he can get the right guy in order to be able to do that, that remains to be seen. But he's been pretty quiet with everybody about what he's doing there."

Saunders did give Kahn some credit, saying: "He's being aggressive. He's being very proactive. He's putting a stamp on how he wants the team to be and how he foresees the team as far as a plan. So you've got to give him credit from that standpoint, that he's not just sitting back."

But I agree with what Saunders said about McHale. "Kevin looks at the one month where they were all healthy," Saunders said. "... Then they all got hurt right before the All-Star break."

Jottings Apparently Target Corp. is interested in keep the naming rights on Target Center, a contract that has two years left, despite the company's big investment in the naming rights for Target Field. They are negotiating for an extension at the present time.

Earlier this week, ESPN The Magazine released its annual Ultimate Sports Standings -- which ranks all 122 NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams on a variety of factors. Minnesota's teams were ranked as follows: Twins 23rd; Wild 66th; Vikings 89th; Timberwolves 113th.

The Twins continue to pace ahead of their 2008 attendance totals. They are on track to draw more than 2.3 million fans this year. ... The process of relocating current Twins season-ticket holders into seats at Target Field will wrap up this month. The Twins project selling as many as 20,000 full season tickets for the 2010 season, a total that would place them in the top 10 of Major League Baseball. The Twins have a team-record 11,000 full season-ticket equivalents for the final season at the Metrodome.

More than 40 former Twins are expected to be on hand for festivities surrounding the final regular-season game at the Dome on Oct. 4. The list includes Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti, Rick Aguilera, Greg Gagne, Paul Molitor, Chili Davis, Brad Radke, Bert Blyleven and Corey Koskie. ... Radke will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame, along with former director of minor leagues George Brophy, before Saturday's game vs. the White Sox.

The Twins continue to have discussions with the University of Minnesota as well as the Minnesota State High School League about the prospect of playing host to college and high school games at Target Field next spring.

Mike Ramsey's contract as an assistant coach for the Wild is for two years, a good move in retaining the assistant under Jacques Lemaire by new coach Todd Richards. Goalie coach Bob Mason also will return.

Marc Trestman, the former Gophers and Vikings assistant coach now coaching Montreal of the Canadian Football League, is off to a 3-0 start, including an opening victory over Calgary, the team that beat the Alouettes for the Grey Cup last year.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on his Podcast once a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com