As many Laker fans know firsthand, there is a lot of uncertainty going around the NBA these days. Ours is not the only team waiting with bated breath for news regarding a key player. In fact, one can only imagine how fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves are feeling right now.  They are facing a huge question mark in the form of one Ricky Rubio.

Rubio was playing in Spain before he made the scene and made headlines as the youngest player ever to participate in Olympic basketball finals. Most international players who declare for the NBA draft are relatively unknown to the general public, but not Rubio. Oh no, his reputation precedes him as there are tons of fans who made YouTube videos available for your viewing pleasure. Some of them have even garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Rubio is a young, talented, and unique player. Anyone who watches his highlights cannot help but be impressed as he does things with a basketball that few players attempt to do. It doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking to boot, and has already been dubbed as “teen sensation” thus making him extremely marketable. The young Spaniard is an extremely appealing prospect for any team, so it’s no surprise that the Timberwolves went ahead and attempted to make a play for Rubio.

In the pre draft speculation, Rubio was predicted as going in the top five.  Minnesota already had the sixth pick, but they went ahead and traded Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Wizards in exchange for the number five pick in the draft. Luckily for them, when draft day came Rubio was available for the number five pick. This should have been good news for the Minnesota fans, and it would have been were it not for the 6.6 million dollar buyout that Rubio has with his native Spain DKV Joventut. Despite all his potential, no one can deny that he is also a gamble. However, it would appear that the Timberwolves had a backup plan.

With the number six pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected point guard Johnny Flynn. A surprising move, another point guard? Their organization clearly had the foresight to realize that it might be a lot more complicated to get Rubio to the NBA than anyone may have predicted. He doesn’t have the means to pay it himself, and the Timberwolves can only help out to the degree of five hundred thousand dollars. Did they really think that the DKV Joventut ball club would just roll over and release him from his contract? Of course not. So while Johnny Flynn made a splash in Summer League, clearly proving himself to be an excellent plan A, let alone a plan B, David Kahn is doing his best to help Rubio’s negotiations.

The questions now remain: will it pay off? And when? Perhaps DKV Joventut will magically decide to release him from his contract, but probably not. At this point, the situation can play out in a number of ways. Remember that marketability I mentioned earlier? Well Rubio can certainly use that to his advantage, and, through endorsements, attempt to pay off the buyout with Joventut. He is already appearing in a Gillette commercial with other popular athletes. Second, he can stay with DKV Joventut for one or two more seasons and then make way to the NBA. However, recent comments from Rubio’s camp make this option less likely as it would appear negotiations are putting a strain on the relationship between himself and the organization. This leads us to option three, in which Rubio’s buyout is taken care of by another ACB League team and he signs with them, perhaps FC Barcelona or Real Madrid? Either way the Minnesota organization has patiently pledged that they are willing to wait for Rubio. With so many intangibles still up in the air it appears that patience is exactly what they need right now as all there is left to do is watch and wait.