It seems like forever that the Minnesota Timberwolves chose Ricky Rubio 5th overall. But it was only 2009, and since then Rubio has been in his native Spain playing ball. But it looks like he’s finally set to come across the pond.
Ricky Rubio is making his long-awaited move to the NBA and will join the Minnesota Timberwolves next season.
The highly touted 20-year-old Spanish guard ended two years of speculation Friday, saying, “I have finally decided to start the journey” to the NBA.
“It is my dream and I want to fulfill it,” he said. “After thinking about it a lot, the time has arrived.”
The Timberwolves chose Rubio with the No. 5 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. But his $6 million buyout clause at Joventut, his first Spanish pro team — of which an NBA team could pay only $500,000 under league rules — made him stay in Spain until it came down to a more manageable $1.4 million.
“I felt very confident since we drafted him that he would start his career here,” Timberwolves president David Kahn said. “There was never a moment where that really wavered.”
Read more about Rubio’s decision at ESPN.com.
